Enrichment Experiences in Engineering (E3) Program:
Research shows that there is lack of understanding about the manufacturing education and its career prospects among k-12 students. As a part of a NSF- ATE grant, an ‘Enrichment Experience in Engineering’ or E3 program was offered to high school teachers at Texas A&M University in the summer of 2017 and 2018. The goal of the program was to improve the self-efficacy of the high school teachers about high value manufacturing so they could better educate high school students in these topics upon returning to their schools. A total of 11 teachers participated in this program including 5 in the summer of 2017 and 6 in the summer of 2018. These teachers worked with TAMU engineering faculty and graduate students on various projects related to high value manufacturing. The E3 research experience was offered in coordination with TAMU’s College of Engineering as a two and half week-long residential program at College Station campus. The main objective of this program was to excite and empower teachers about engineering research, develop projects for classroom implementation and increase overall awareness of engineering careers. Later, the effectiveness of E3 program was assessed through research evaluations of participated teachers through various surveys.
High school teachers working on advanced manufacturing projects
Program Assessment:
In order to evaluate the effect of E3 program on teacher’s self-efficacy in STEM in general and high value manufacturing in particular, both pre and post surveys were conducted by employing T-STEM survey instrument developed by North Carolina State University as well as a customized survey instrument specially developed to measure the teachers’ efficacy in high value manufacturing. Following table provides the seven key areas covered in T-STEM survey.
| Section | Section name | Section description |
| A | Technology Teaching Efficacy and Beliefs | Belief in technology teaching ability |
| B | Technology Teaching Outcome Expectancy | Belief in the extent to which effective teaching affects student learning in technology domain |
| C | Student Technology Use | Frequency of student technology use during instruction |
| D | Technology Instruction | Frequency of using technology instructional practices |
| E | 21st Century Learning Attitudes | Attitude towards 21st century learning |
| F | Teacher Leadership Attitudes | Attitude towards teacher leadership activities |
| G | STEM Career Awareness | Awareness of STEM career prospects |
Program Assessment Results:
Specific details about participants and program assessments can be found on following:
Assessment of 2017 Cohort
Assessment of 2018 Cohort
For more details about the educational material please contact Dr. Bimal Nepal at nepal@tamu.edu