Building Capacity for Preparing Teacher-Engineers for 21st Century Engineering

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This Capacity Building project is a partnership between the College of Education, College of Engineering, and College of Science, and is establishing an undergraduate program in engineering to produce teacher-engineers who understand current knowledge of how people learn and who implement effective pedagogical approaches in their classroom using this understanding. To achieve the desired outcome, the project is working to achieve two immediate goals: (1) building the infrastructure for producing effective and knowledgeable teacher-engineers who will teach in K-12 settings; (2) strengthening partnerships among the three UTEP colleges and local school districts to support successful development of teacher-engineers. The project is re-designing targeted engineering course curricula, is coupling those with existing education courses, and is integrating them with field experiences in K-12 classrooms. These actions are infusing a practice-based approach to learning in the teacher-engineers, and are providing them with deep understanding of the pedagogical and technical content of teaching, learning, and engineering.The project is extending an existing Noyce Scholars Program and is building a unique infrastructure that incorporates inquiry-based learning both in theory and in practice. The education courses are providing the theoretical underpinnings of inquiry teaching and learning, while the re-designed engineering courses are providing the practice of the theory. It is this theory-informs-practice model that is providing Noyce Engineering Scholars with the knowledge and experience to teach in an inquiry-based manner that both engages K-12 students in their learning and excites them about engineering as a career option.The project is informing the broader community of a model for preparing teacher-engineers who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to teach in mathematics and science including engineering and technology applications. The engineering courses re-designed around inquiry models of teaching and learning also are benefitting all enrolled students from the deepened conceptual understanding of the content. As a minority serving institution, the project is positively impacting the diversity of highly qualified, K-12 STEM educators.