Work in progress - engagement through a dual credit initiative resulting in collaborative partnerships to create pre-engineering biotechnology curriculum for the high school classroom

A need exists to develop pathways between high schools and universities to facilitate the education of students within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In response to recent legislation, a pilot program has been implemented by Purdue University to develop dual credit courses within local high schools and establish specific criteria to insure that the courses taken in high school are equivalent to the university courses. The pilot program is building upon Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a pre-engineering program for high school students recently cited as a model curriculum within the study, ¿Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future,¿ sponsored by the National Academies to outline strategies to raise American education and remain competitive in the new global marketplace. The PLTW curriculum offers students the opportunity to complete college credit in high school and includes intensive summer training to enhance teacher's abilities to teach engineering concepts in the classroom. This project can serve as a model to establish collaborative foundations between high school teachers and university faculty resulting in innovative curriculum development and smooth articulation between high schools and universities.