Work in progress - TechXcite: Discover engineering

TechXcite, an informal, project-based middle school engineering program, is a partnership between Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences at North Carolina State University, National 4-H Council, and the National Science and Technology Education Partnership. The curriculum is centered on seven themes (wireless communication, biomedical technology, digital imaging, alternative energy, transportation, architecture and GIS/GPS). Each theme contains two modules with four 45-minute activities. The project-based activities introduce exciting technologies that children encounter in their everyday lives. Afterschool staff, most of whom have no formal engineering education, teach the program. This paper presents a description of TechXcite and a brief evaluation summary for the fall 2008 implementation of the program. At this early stage in the program only preliminary results are available. However these initial results indicate that afterschool staff and students increased their awareness and understanding of science and technology.