Classes introduce students to engineering

Classmates were debating innovations to water bottles when Rita Walter entered class the first day.

Tasked with developing a design that would make the bottle a "must-have," students took advantage of the "no restrictions" guidelines. Some suggested adding a GPS tracking system or a retractable straw. What about a computer chip that regulated water temperature? One group recommended installing a sterilizing mouthpiece.

Before the first day, Walter "kind of" knew the backbone of engineering: "inventing and improving," and the senior had even thought of attending an engineering college. After hearing rave reviews from her younger brother, Walter switched into Introduction to Engineering Design at the Career and Technology Center to decide if she would want to make a career out of engineering.

"So I don't make a decision I'm stuck in for the rest of my life," she said.

Project Lead the Way classes, offered for the first time this year, are meant to increase the number of students who enter the engineering field while also strengthening students' abilities in science, technology, engineering and math.

Recent test data shows critical gaps in those subjects. The College Board reported only 42 percent of Missouri students who graduated in 2008 demonstrated readiness for college-level math; for science, only 31 percent did, based on ACT test scores.

"Over the last decade, we have been outsourcing. The thought by most people is if we don't keep engineers here we will be surpassed by other countries," said Collin Sheridan, who teaches the Introduction to Engineering Design class.

Project Lead the Way is a not-for-profit organization that works with schools to implement engineering courses. The preparatory classes stress hands-on, problem-based activities that have real-world applications.

The organization launched its curriculum in 1997 in New York and has expanded to include about 3,000 schools. Project Lead the Way was brought to Cape Girardeau through a $103,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"The purpose for me to get this started and the biggest emphasis I've heard from sending schools is that students have been very, very academically prepared to go to college but they are ill-prepared with the application side of the knowledge. They are a little bit behind their counterparts," said Rich Payne, director of the Career and Technology Center.

Introduction to Engineering Design is the only class offered this year, but future offerings will include Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics, a specialization course such as aerospace engineering or biotechnical engineering, and a capstone course. There has also been talk about establishing "gateway" curriculum at the middle school level.

As an instructor, Sheridan was required to attend an intensive, two-week training session in Rolla, Mo., this summer. Districts are mandated to follow rigid guidelines established by the organization which range from the specific equipment expected in classrooms down to what material should be taught on which day.

For senior Jessie Hahn the class is unlike any she's taken. "I was unsure about coming across the street [to the center for a class] because of the connotations of classes it has," she said. Having only taken academic classes, Hahn wondered whether she'd be working more with her "hands instead of mind."

"But with this class, you're working with both," she said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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