Designing Professional Development to fit your Audience (Other)

Abstract

Professional development for engineering education in the precollege space can vary widely for many reasons. One of the most compelling reasons for differentiation is the learning needs of the audience. A workshop for teachers who have immediate need for activities to incorporate in their classroom looks different from a workshop for counselors who are guiding students through career choices. This paper looks at the design considerations for professional development workshops by using two workshops conducted in 2022 with 56 participants as examples. The first workshop was for a group associated with 9 North Carolina State University College Advising Corps (CAC) members, recent college graduates who may or may not have a STEM degree. These CAC advisors with high school students in rural parts of the state to advise them along career pathways. The second workshop was for 49 teachers in a K-8 STEM school needing to understand integrated STEM instruction and get ideas for nearly immediate implementation in their classrooms. Both groups needed orientation with regards to authentic engineering for K-12 students, as well as an understanding of engineering careers. Both workshops included hands-on engineering activities, discussion of engineering habits of mind, and comparisons between science, math, and engineering. Yet both workshops could not be identical, due to the unique needs of each audience. The paper includes a description of the content of both workshops, observations of the participants as they engaged in engineering design challenges, and evaluation results of each workshop. Also included is a discussion of the realities of providing professional development as the K-12 outreach and engagement team at The Engineering Place @ NC State University College of Engineering versus the theoretical optimum approach and how to deal with the constraints of working with fund- and time-limited groups of professionals.