Developing a standards-based K-12 engineering curricula through partnerships with university students and industry

We have developed a K12 engineering outreach project that aims to benefit the project developers as much as the target recipients of the instructional materials. The primary developers in this case are university biomedical engineering (BME) students, both undergraduate and graduate. One objective for this project is to increase the developers’ abilities to design instruction materials for teachers and students that are consistent with the research and theory on How People Learn 1 . Another objective is to increase the depth of BME students’ content knowledge. The university students have partnered with university faculty, industry experts, and K12 teachers to develop a 3-week engineering module. The module challenges middle school students to draw on previously learned scientific principles as they design and construct prosthetic arms to accomplish tasks requiring either strength or fine motor control. The group's affiliation with the Center for International Rehabilitation has led to the creation of a 3-week program that meets state and national education standards and introduces students to the societal benefits engineering brings. In this paper, we will discuss: 1) our development model, 2) gains to university student developers, and 3) the effectiveness of this module for middle school students.