E-mail
Print
Project Helps Teens see Relevance of Math and Science
Many Wisconsin teens are discovering first-hand engineering and technology and the important roles they play in our everyday lives. Classes such as Introduction to Engineering and Principles of Engineering are offered in middle schools and high schools across the state. These schools - more than 200 -- are participating in Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit program that is helping to resolve our nation's ever-growing shortage of engineers.
MSOE, the National Affiliate University
for PLTW in the state, has been involved in the program since 2004, as has a
major proponent, the Kern Family Foundation. The program has grown
exponentially - 3,400% - the fourth-highest number in the country.
PLTW offers middle school and high school curriculum that combines college preparatory mathematics and science courses. The emphasis of the courses is to introduce the scope, rigor and discipline that engineering and engineering technology programs require.
Benefit to Students and Schools
The Project Lead The Way program uses a hands-on approach to learning which shows students how math and science integrates into real life. the program touches a wide array of students, many of whom normally wouldn't have considered engineering or a technical field. PLTW students have performed better than their college-prep counterparts in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments.
It is a
good program from the engineering university's perspective, but the NAEP data
showed the benefit to high schools as well. PLTW students outscored their peers
in math, science and even reading, which says a lot about the comprehensive
nature of the program.
How Teachers Get
Involved
The
program's critical component is the comprehensive teacher-training model. Hundreds of teachers have come to the MSOE campus for intensive,
two-week training programs using PLTW-trained master teachers and professors,
teacher idea exchanges and conferences for guidance counselors.
Results that Show
Nationally,
more than 1,400 schools in 50 states and District of Columbia now participate in
PLTW and
it has improved the math, science and reading skills of participants as
compared to students in traditional four-year, pre-college programs. Also,
there is compelling data that students who take three or more PLTW courses are
better prepared for the rigors of college engineering and engineering
technology academics and persist through to graduation. Nationally, 50 percent
of college freshmen entering engineering programs fail to earn an engineering
degree; PLTW students persist in the range of 80 percent or more.
