Diversity In Engineering Technology: The Competitions

The United States will face a serious shortage of scientists, engineers, technologists, and mathematicians because high school students are losing interest in science and math, especially those students from underrepresented groups. The Diversity in Engineering Technology project is doing something about this problem. We encourage women, minorities, and persons with disabilities to stay in math and science courses through participation in newly established engineering clubs at the high schools. Our goal is to increase the students’ interest in engineering by demonstrating how the math and science concepts they are learning in class are applied in real life to engineering problems. The Junior Engineering Technical Society and UNC Charlotte have joined forces to encourage more women and minorities to become interested in engineering and engineering technology by establishing engineering clubs and engaging these students in competitions. The Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) is a national non-profit education organization that has served the pre-college engineering community for over 50 years. The engineering clubs will participate in the Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAM+S) competition developed by JETS. The TEAM+S competition is an academically challenging, open-book, open-discussion exam taken by teams of four-to-eight high school students. TEAM+S presents the multidisciplinary aspect of engineering work by illustrating how math and science concepts work together and are applied to solve real-world problems. JETS and the Diversity in Engineering Technology project promote interest in engineering and engineering technology and are dedicated to providing real world engineering and problemsolving experiences to high school students. Through the engineering clubs, students will discover engineering while in high school, find out what engineers do, and learn how math and science is applied to real life engineering problems. This paper will focus on the JETS’ TEAM+S competitions. We will describe how to host a competition, how to recruit participants in your region, provide examples of the problems P ge 976.1 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education students will solve during the competition, and share the results of the first JETS competition hosted by UNC Charlotte. Rationale for the Project: In the near future, the United States will face a serious shortage of scientists, engineers, technologists, and mathematicians because high school students from underrepresented groups are losing interest in these subjects 1 . These students are depriving themselves of many technical and scientific career choices, as well as access to high salaried occupations 2 . In 1995, women constituted about 46 percent of the U.S. labor force but only about 22 percent of the scientific and engineering labor force 3 . The National Science Foundation (NSF) report “Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2000” states that, although some progress has been made at all levels of education and employment, women are still less likely to choose careers in science and engineering. Additionally, the numbers and percentages of minorities in engineering related careers are decreasing 4 . A nationwide shortage of qualified high-tech workers will jeopardize the country’s economic future unless something is done to nurture the intellectual development of these non-traditional students so that the pool of scientists and engineers expands to include more women, minorities, and persons with disabilities 5 . The Engineering Technology Department at UNC Charlotte has been funded by the National Science Foundation to implement a project that encourages students typically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers to become interested in engineering and engineering technology to address the problem. The focus of the project is to establish engineering and engineering technology clubs at public high schools in the Charlotte, North Carolina region and then to support the clubs through engaging, hands-on activities. Competitions are one of the activities used to encourage and challenge young people from our region to participate in the clubs. JETS Competitions: The Tests of Engineering Aptitude Mathematics and Science (TEAM+S) challenges high school students in ways that no other program does. TEAM+S is a rigorous competition in which a group of four to eight high school students learn team development and problem-solving skills, and then participate in an open-book, open-discussion, engineering problem competition. From this one test, teams receive local, state and national recognition. Figure 1: Students taking the TEAM+S Test at UNC Charlotte P ge 976.2 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education TEAM+S is split into two sections. The first section involves ten problem statements with background information: i.e.; formulas, assumptions, etc. For each of the problem statements there are ten multiple-choice questions. Students must work as a team; cooperatively and organized to be able to finish in good standing. The students are given 90 minutes to complete the first section. The test booklets explain to students that even very good teams will only complete 50 to 60% of the test. Why is the test so long and rigorous (90 minutes to complete 100 demanding and difficult questions)? The test is difficult so that the students are challenged and so that a “clear” national winner advances from the competitions. TEAM+S competitions are held between the second week in February and the third week in March at over 90 colleges and universities and reaches 1,600 high schools and 13,000 high school students across the country. This is the first year that UNC Charlotte will host a TEAM+S Competition. We are expecting 18 schools to participate with at least one team from each school. This year, UNC Charlotte will host 100 high school students (potential UNC Charlotte engineering or engineering technology students) to compete in the TEAM+S Test. Immediately after the TEAM+S Test the students will participate in a robotic competition (see below: Other Competitions). The benefits of hosting a TEAM+S competition include: the opportunity to talk with some of the area’s best and brightest students about engineering, and your department’s programs, serving as a resource to high school students, many of whom are making college and career choices, and placing your organization alongside other engineering organizations working together for the good of the community, TEAM+S is now in its 25th year and is JETS most successful engineering program. Each year, 90 locations (mostly colleges & universities) host over 1,600 teams and 13,000 students across the country. Thirty-five percent of the students participating in TEAM+S Test nationwide are female. In fact, the high schools participating in the TEAM+S Competitions have been very successful in recruiting a diverse group of students to participate. Table 1: Demographic Data at UNC Charlotte, the U.S., and in the Region White AfricanAmerican Hispanic 3 Asian Male Female UNC Charlotte 76.7% 13.6% 1.3% 4.6% 90.7% 9.3% National Stats in Eng./Tech 1 69.3% 7.6% 5.7% 6.5 89.3% 10.7% Regional Population 2 74.7% 19.4% 5.0% 2.1% 48.3% 51.7% National Participation in TEAM+S 4 74.7% 2.3% 4.6% 12.5% 65% 35% 1 from ASEE 2 2000 US Census Bureau 3 Hispanic – any race 4 National Statistics from JETS The table above shows that we need to provide more encouragement to women, AfricanAmericans, and Latinos in this region to consider STEM careers. The demographic data for those who participated in the TEAM+S Competition at UNC Charlotte this year is shown below. P ge 976.3 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education Table 2: Demographic Data of Participants in the TEAM+S Competition at Charlotte this year 1