The article offers information on making technology education students interested in science and mathematics through the use of a T-shirt launcher design project. This project was designed for junior and senior level high school students who have completed or are currently taking physics and precalculus. The project involves designing an…

NASA and astronaut Patrick Forrester recently teamed up with Clemson University's College of Health Education and Human Development (HEHD) to promote STEM teaching and learning in the Upstate (SC) community. A goal of HEHD is to extend integrative STEM education opportunities to all teachers and their students in South Carolina. NASA space…

In the fall of 2011, Park Forest Middle School (PFMS) students approached the STEM faculty with numerous questions regarding the popular television show Myth Busters, which detailed Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor, Archimedes. Two episodes featured attempts to test historical accounts that Archimedes developed a death ray…

With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), ITEEA members will contribute to the development of a hybrid professional development program designed to facilitate the scale-up of an innovative underwater robotics curriculum. WaterBotics[TM] is an underwater robotics curriculum that targets students in middle and high school classrooms…

It is well documented that there is a disproportionate number of males pursuing engineering and technology careers when compared to their female counterparts (Milgram, 2011). Some recent articles have proposed methods to recruit more females into technology education (Milgram, 2011; Zywno, Gilbride, Hiscodes, Waalen, and Kennedy, 1999). However,…

In this article, the authors introduce engineering and technology teachers to the process that led to the National Research Council's framework for K-12 science education and some of its content and delve into the dimensions of the framework that should be of most interest to engineering and technology teachers. The framework articulates a vision…

In this article, the author suggests a classroom challenge that will engage students in designing a house on the hill. He suggests teachers ask a local builder to come to the school to discuss the kinds of concerns that must be dealt with when building homes in cold environments. The use of dioramas and cardboard scale models would be very useful…

Building a human-powered flying craft can be much more complicated than one would first imagine. There are no "premade" plans available for this type of craft. In addition, the crafts needed to be built with some "style," or in other words, they should represent something other than a flying machine. The concept of launching a human-powered craft…

Many people use wind to help meet their needs. Over the years, people have been able to harness or capture the wind in many different ways. More recently, people have seen the rebirth of electricity-generating wind turbines. Thus, the age-old argument about technology being either good or bad can also be applied to the wind. The wind can be a…

Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University, in collaboration with the marine industry and local school systems, is improving STEM preparation using innovative experiences for students and teachers in the nation's major shipbuilding and repair areas through MarineTech and SBRCD (Shipbuilding Repair and Maritime Career Day) projects. The…

Current instructional and learning models insist that when teachers prepare lessons for their technology and engineering classes, they must begin with a sense of what students already know. In preparing lessons, many teachers use their years of classroom experience as data to inform them about students' prior knowledge and about student…