The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

The Student News Site of Neshaminy High School

The Playwickian

Engineering courses hold potential for STEM integration

By Monica Dinh
Entertainment Editor

As the engineering industry continues to grow, and with many engineers over the age of 55 preparing to retire; there are more STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) jobs than there are qualified people to fill them.

According to the Department of Education, only around 16% of high school seniors want to pursue a STEM career. Students lose interest in math and science courses partially because they do not understand how theories and formulas learned in class apply to the real world.

Teaching applications first, then learning the theories and techniques afterwards would function as a much more efficient method; as opposed to just seeing concepts on the board with absolutely no hands on learning.  Learning from a hands on approach first would allow students to see the purpose behind theories and concepts, helping them to visualize how each idea is applied.

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“We frequently hear students who come into our classes questioning, ‘When am I ever going to use this trigonometry or physics principle?’ …We give them the real life application of those concepts and it gives them that ah-ha moment,” robotics teacher Bob Wood said.

The Technology and Engineering Education (Tech-Ed) department offers varieties of courses like Principles of Engineering, ‘Power, Energy and Transportation,’ Manufacturing and Construction, Architectural and Interior Design, and Robotics.  Unfortunately, many students are not aware of all the technical resources and opportunities Neshaminy has to offer.  “I know a lot of people who don’t even know that E-Hall exists,” senior Terry Warner, an aspiring aerospace engineer, said.

“In a perfect world scenario we would have a combined science and Tech-Ed course where a science teacher and a Tech-Ed teacher are teaching at the same time and we would really get into the practical application of physics.  Will that ever happen I don’t know, but ideally there should be a graduation requirement for a Tech-Ed Class,” Wood said.

The majority of Neshaminy students currently taking engineering and Tech-Ed courses only have positive regards about their educational experience. Senior Justin Kramer, who is planning to major in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee said.

“When you take the courses here, they really push you to do different types of math or physics and apply them to real life situations.  It not only allows you to expand your mind, but it puts reason to everything you’re doing in the classroom.  It also helps with creativity.  You learn to use things in more than one way, you stop with concrete thinking and start with fluid thinking; you learn to use things for more than their intended purpose to get an objective done.”

Taking an engineering course results in only positive benefits; students can broaden their career horizons while simultaneously learn problem solving skills. “A lot of traditional classrooms have one answer for one problem, and that’s not really how the real world works.  We give students an opportunity to think creatively and additionally apply learning from other classes” engineering and digital electronics teacher Joshua Elliot said.

Since there are many other graduation requirements, students probably won’t take well to having yet another class requirement.  With that said a half credit requirement of engineering would be an innovative solution; possibly taken along with physics or trigonometry.

Additionally, the Neshaminy School District needs to spread the word about the high school’s Tech-Ed Department.  “We should definitely tell more people about Tech-Ed courses.  Like at back to school night everyone knows about English and History, but sadly barely anyone knows about these engineering courses,” senior robotics student Angela Le said.

Exposing students to engineering should not be limited to high school level, but also at an elementary level. Currently at Neshaminy’s elementary schools are using a program called Foss Science, which allows students to participate in certain engineering practices and design.  “At a young age is when kids are interested in how things work, they don’t have certain gender stereotypes placed in their heads yet,” Elliot said.

Sadly, engineering is not part of Neshaminy’s actual curriculum until fifth grade.  On the Engineering Courses Recognition poster hanging in E-Hall, 33 names are recognized, none of which are girls.  If engineering is taught at an earlier age, gender separation will hopefully never form.

The world revolves around ideas, especially technological ideas.  Integrating engineering/Tech-Ed courses into Neshaminy’s curriculum would be a step in the right direction, not only for the school district’s future, but also for the country’s future.  Imagine what a positive effect more creative engineers could potentially have on the world.

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Engineering courses hold potential for STEM integration