A High School Engineering Curriculum Focusing on Discovery, Design, Professional Skills and Society

The Engineering 4 Us All (e4usa) curriculum was designed to introduce engineering to students who had little or no understanding of engineering; the design is meant to be inclusive and to engage in an examination and exploration of ‘engineering’. The intent is to emphasize the idea of being able to think like an engineer in any chosen profession, rather than simply to develop more engineers or to teach engineering skills. The focus is not on ‘how to become an engineer’ but ‘what is engineering’ and ‘who is an engineer’, including engineering design, ethics, communication, societal implications, and the concepts of engineering as problem solving and embracing failure as a learning opportunity. This paper describes the e4usa curriculum and discusses the focus, uniquely designed to democratize and diversify engineering. It will discuss, in particular, the emphasis on discovery of engineering, its relationship to societal considerations, and incorporation of elements such as ethics in engineering design, and development of an engineering identity. This paper addresses the following research questions regarding the course and associated professional development: •How does the e4usa course differ from other precollege engineering curricula? •How did the pilot year e4usa teachers adapt and deliver the curriculum during the COVID-19 disruption? •What effect did COVID-19 have on the potential effectiveness of the professional development? Methods include interviews with teachers prior to and after professional development sessions, a series of focus groups with teachers, and examination of teacher reflections, utilizing Situated Learning Theory as a lens. Teachers indicated that the professional development opportunity was very successful. Preliminary data showed that teachers expressed issues with adaptations, student motivation, digital equity, successes, and teacher future plans due to COVID. Allowing them to experience the course from the viewpoint of the student led to feelings of empathy. It was clear that teachers' limited experience in online delivery and dwindling attendance were significant factors. This paper will be of interest to anyone interested in developing or implementing an existing K-12 engineering-focused curriculum. In addition programs utilizing an unconventional approach as this program explored a previously unexplored area can gain insight into potential challenges and successes of this type of model deviating from a more typical traditional approach.