Page 143 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

128 STANDARDS FOR K–12 ENGINEERING EDUCATION?

Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) is an updated version of the earlier
mathematics standards. Several factors motivated this update; for example, the original consensus
supporting the 1989 standards collapsed into bitter debate, some of which was about the correct
interpretation of the original rhetoric and the need to solicit input from a broad range of constituencies.

Chapter 2 includes six principles—equity, curriculum, teaching, learning, assessment, and technology—
that describe features of high-quality mathematics education, PreK–12. In the remaining chapters, there
are five standards—number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurements, and data analysis and
probability—that describe mathematical content goals. There are also five process standards—problem
solving, reasoning and proof, connections, communication, and representation—for each grade band,
PreK–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12.

Here again, the document uses a purely mathematics lens. This is not surprising coming from the
professional association of teachers of mathematics, a field that has long been in the spotlight. Apart
from the math wars, assessments are regularly administered to ascertain student achievement levels in
mathematics. Progress in mathematics—or the lack thereof—is often in the news.

Principles and Standards does, however, covertly acknowledge technology and engineering education.
In the Technology Principle, technology—in the narrow sense of computers and calculators—is again
described as a tool to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics.

The effective use of technology in the mathematics classroom depends on the teacher. Technology is
not a panacea. As with any teaching tool, it can be used well or poorly . . . Technology not only
influences how mathematics is taught and learned but also affects what is taught and when a topic
appears in the curriculum. . . . (NCTM 2000, pp. 25–26)

Among the process standards, problem solving comes closest to representing an engineering concept.
Students must be able to: (1) build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving, (2) solve
problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts, (3) apply and adapt a variety of appropriate
strategies to solve problems, and (4) monitor and reflect on the process of mathematical problem solving.
(NCTM 2000, pp. 52–54 and elaborated elsewhere in the document).

The Connections standard addresses the potential of multi-disciplinary learning. NCTM calls on teachers
and students to recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics. "The link between
mathematics and science is not only through content but also through process. The processes and content
of science can inspire an approach to solving problems that applies to the study of mathematics. (NCTM
2000, p. 66).

Guiding Principles for Mathematics Curriculum and Assessment (NCTM, 2009)

With work under way to create common standards for English language arts and mathematics, NCTM
recently released a document urging that they be grounded in existing work. The document concludes:

. . . any curriculum must be linked to assessments based on standards. A curriculum should provide a
rich, connected learning experience for students while adding coherence to the standards, and
standards must align with the curriculum rather than be separate, long lists of learning expectations.
Alignment and coherence of these three elements—curriculum, standards, and assessment—are
critically important foundations of mathematics education. (NCTM, available online at
http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=23273)

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