This article discusses the status of World Geography Education and the importance of these concepts in developing 21st century students. Moreover, the authors also showcase how World Geography concepts can be intentionally taught through a technological/engineering, design-based learning challenge that requires students to solve a global housing…

The authors describe a vocational training course that was developed to give more than just an overview of how aircraft work, or a course on how to fly. This training course was a half-year course in aviation technology. Powered flight is an area of interest for many students, and the intent of creating a curriculum rich with science, technology,…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is a term seen almost daily in the news. In 2009, President Obama launched the Educate to Innovate initiative to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade (The White House, n.d.). Learning about the attributes of STEM…

This article describes a cooperative project between eighth graders and first graders called "Going Green in the Neighborhood." The project entailed the first grade students sketching home designs on paper to make a model community, and the eighth grade students taking those drawings and making them into 3D computer models and then…

This article presents an overview of how to relate reading to a content area, specifically technology education. The author notes that, with the new focus on Common Core English Language Arts State Standards and state-developed standards, technology and engineering teachers should include disciplinary literacy in their curriculum. Academic…

This article describes an efficient peer evaluation process that can be implemented at the middle and high school levels, and that holds students accountable for their individual contributions in a team-based project. Teachers faced with this challenge will welcome the web-based peer-evaluation interface that was capable of soliciting student…

The research in this "Learning by Doing" study focuses on a special type of doing that applies to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. In the early stages of humankind, the act of doing was essential for survival and drove the evolution of technology. As was true in ancient times, knowledge and the ability…

This is the second in a series of articles discussing the "Doing-Based Learning" study. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which U.S. public school elementary and secondary education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students are doing activities in their classrooms. The first article (Moye,…

The children of "Generation Z"--today's American teens--are digital natives (Prensky, 2001) who have come to expect high-speed Internet service, high-resolution multimedia, and instant communication using wireless mobile technology. Teen ownership of digital devices is at a new high according to national surveys. School…

Engineering design has been suggested as a viable instructional approach for Technology Education (TE) to intentionally provide students the opportunity to apply multidisciplinary concepts to solve ill-defined design challenges (Wells & Ernst, 2012; Sanders & Wells, 2010; Wicklein, 2006). Currently, the context for design challenges in TE…

Technology and engineering education and its predecessors have a long history of being effective programs for helping students learn about technology and technological design. Students are often asked to solve design challenges, develop product ideas, and create models or prototypes for products. They do not often set up tests with product users…

A serious drawback to electric vehicles [batteries only] is the idle time needed to recharge their batteries. In this challenge, students can develop ideas and concepts for battery change-out at automotive service stations. Such a capability would extend the range of electric vehicles.

Roadways are literally soaked with petrochemical byproducts, oils, gasoline, and other volatile substances that eventually run off into sewers and end up in rivers, waterways, and other undesirable places. Can the roads be cleaned of these wastes, with their proper disposal? Can vehicles, robots, or other devices be designed that could be driven…

The Family and Consumer Science (FCS) Department at Charles F. Patton Middle School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, planted a garden to provide students with an organic horticulture experience. Although the garden provided the FCS Department space to grow plants, Patton Middle School FCS teachers Betsy Ballard and Kim Hislert believed it…

With a new emphasis on the inclusion of engineering content and practices in technology education, attention has focused on what engineering content should be taught and assessed in technology education. The National Academy of Engineering (2010) proposed three general principles for K-12 engineering education in "Standards for K-12…