Standards-based engineering curricula as a vehicle for k-12 science and math integration

After 20 years of efforts to improve K-12 science and math education, concerns loom that today's students show limited inclination to choose engineering and technology futures. With little opportunity to learn how science and math skills translate into professionally useful knowledge, students do not make informed choices about their education options and close off future career pathways. To develop concrete connections for K-12 students between science/math and daily life, the University of Colorado at Boulder's Integrated Teaching and Learning Program's K-12 outreach initiative developed a collection of standards-based, hands-on K-12 engineering curricula. These classroom-tested and affordable curricular units provide K-12 educators and engineering colleges with an effective and sustainable engineering resource, contributing to an improvement in technological literacy as well as expanding the pool of youngsters who imagine themselves pursuing a future in engineering and technology. This paper examines the development of K-12 engineering curricula as an effective vehicle for science and math integration and provides assessment results.