Principal Investigator: Dr. Eric Heiselt
Abstract:
The Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) of Mississippi State University (MSU) has an established reputation of excellence in k-12 Outreach and workforce development. Through programs including BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) Robotics, Mississippi Summer Transportation Institute, SeaPerch South, Family Engineering Night, and Engineering In the Middle Saturdays. These programs have been designed and implemented to bring engineering forward within STEM education.
The BCoE will implement 5 Family Engineering Events during the 2012-2013 school year. These events will be held in schools across the state of Mississippi with concentration on districts that may be identified as having higher levels of at-risk students or with at least 60% of the students being served in the free/reduced lunch programs. Initial identification of partner schools includes: Jackson County School District, Gulfport School District, Claiborne County School District, Jackson Public School District and Neshoba County School District.
The BCoE has presented this program in various schools previously and has extensive experience with the curriculum and process of Family Engineering Night. The identified schools have not been previously served due to distance from the MSU campus. This funding will allow these schools to participate. Volunteers will be secured from the school/district faculty, through alumni organizations and industry partners. We have found that by training on-site teachers how to implement the ‘long activities’, the impact on the school increased as most teachers will re-create the learning activities in their own classrooms. Each event will be capped at 250 participants in order to ensure management and pre-registration will be used. Each event will include at least 15 warm-up or short activities and 4 long activities. Demographic data and feedback will be collected regarding all attendees.