PEPS: An introduction to engineering design for secondary school teachers

Abstract

Each summer the Engineering Department at Harvey Mudd College (HMC) conducts Partners in Engineering Problem Solving (PEPS), a workshop for secondary school math and science teachers with the aim of introducing them to the design methodologies used in HMC's freshman engineering course. That course, Introduction to Engineering Design, and the workshop use studio methods to teach design methodologies, team formation and dynamics, and project management. The five-day workshop brings together teachers from around the United States and immerses them into a hands-on design problem. The ultimate goal of the workshop is to empower educators to develop and apply methods of problem solving and engineering design to open-ended problems in their classrooms. Most of the attendees are selected from schools serving populations traditionally underrepresented in engineering. In addition to exposing the teachers to engineering design methods, the workshop serves to facilitate discussions on how best to attract students into engineering and the sciences. PEPS was originally developed as an extension of a program at Dartmouth College, and has been significantly modified to use the particular strengths available at HMC. An interesting aspect of PEPS has been its use by HMC faculty to conduct pedagogical experiments that have been later implemented in the college classroom. The workshop has been examined using formal assessment techniques and instruments and appears to be realizing its stated goals.