Grand challenges for engineering education

Abstract

In 2013 the National Research Council released A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts (NRC 2012), followed soon after by Next Generation Science Standards. Unlike previous documents that were confined to knowledge and skills in science, the new standards include engineering design at the same level as scientific inquiry. Although science and engineering have always been close partners, meeting the new standards poses huge challenges for science and engineering educators that range from communicating a broader understanding of the nature of technology and engineering to the development of entirely new instructional materials, professional development methods, and breaking down barriers at every level of our nation’s science educational infrastructure.