Page 127 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

112 STANDARDS FOR K–12 ENGINEERING EDUCATION?

more integration of disciplines, and will be assembled in a variety of ways using CAD/CAM to
yield desired learning outcomes. (See About Curriculum Blocks below)
Step 6. Design and set in operation a computer facility for designing K–12 curricula and
13
managing resources. A computer facility, accessible on the Internet, would allow curriculum
developers to search the “warehouse” of curriculum blocks in various ways, to assemble a set
that meets their goals and constraints, to manage associated materials, and continuously collect
feedback from teachers to share with the block developers. This is technologically feasible, but
strong technical, managerial, and political leadership will be needed to create the facility and to
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phase it in over the next 25 or so years.

As all of these steps progress, an analysis of the emerging standards (implicit as well as explicit)
of the engineering education materials being developed should provide an experiential basis for
developing overarching Engineering Education Standards.

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About Curriculum Blocks

A curriculum block is a self-contained sequence of instruction that could be taught in a range of
time dimensions and instructional formats, could relate to one discipline or several, and would be
fully described to enable curriculum designers to make informed choices. Among the
possibilities are: design blocks; case-study blocks; design-challenge blocks; domain cross-cutting
blocks; explanation blocks; inquiry blocks; issue blocks; theme-concept blocks; and so on. To
ensure that these blocks are not formulated willy-nilly, design standards will be necessary to
guide their construction. Descriptions of curriculum blocks should include the following
information:

• Overview. Which students the block is designed for; school subject area; how
instruction is organized; time frame; required prior knowledge and skills;
rationale.
• Content. Specific learning goals; main topics; activities; links to subsequent or
parallel parts of the curriculum.
• Operation. Human resource requirements; material resource requirements; how
assessment will be carried out; cost in time and money.
• Credibility. Empirical evaluation of learning outcomes; published reviews by
independent experts; information about where the block is being used; when and
by whom the block was developed.

What This Adds Up To

My suggestions amount to linking two propositions. The engineering community should (1)
create standards for engineering-related instructional materials; and (2) take the lead in designing
st
the structure of the 21 -century K–12 curriculum. These two components must go hand in hand.

13 See Designs for Science Literacy, Prologue, and Chapters 1, 2, & 3
14 This is not long. Recall that the Sputnik-era reforms took place nearly 50 years ago, A Nation at Risk 26
th
years ago, and Project 2061 will have its 25 birthday next year.
15
See Designs for Science Literacy, pp. 123–47.

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