Incorporating engineering into PreK to grade 12 curricula through career imprinting

The declining interest in engineering on the part of high school students and entering first-year students continues to be a major concern for college engineering departments nationwide. The authors proposed, in an earlier paper, the use of career imprinting as a strategy for not only encouraging students to develop an interest in engineering but also to help them acquire the cognitive and teamwork skills, as well as self-confidence, today's engineering careers so frequently require. Through a series of shared classroom experiences, students in grades PK-12 can be systematically introduced to engineering via the subject matter to which they are already being exposed, thus creating linkages/connections for students among their course content, learning environments, and personal daily lives that will ¿imprint¿ them to develop a strong career interest in a variety of engineering disciplines. This may then motivate students to select engineering majors in college. The authors present details and several models on how engineering can be creatively infused into schools' current PK-12 curriculum, with minimal effort. Specific strategies for resolving some of the potential challenges that may be faced by teachers and administrators-when career imprinting for engineering is introduced into daily instruction-are also presented.