Developing Workforce for the Blue Economy: Creating a Pipeline from K-12 to Higher Education

Low enrollment and high attrition rates in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) based degree programs have created a workforce problem in industries like shipbuilding and repair, which are essential for national security.Part of this problem can be attributed to pedagogical issues like the lack of engaging hands-on activities utilized for science and math education in middle and high schools.Lack of student interest in technical careers can also be attributed to a lack of an integrated approach in teaching math, science, and technical education.Lack of a strong foundation in math and science at the school level has led to largescale flight and attrition from STEM-based career tracks in higher education.Engineering and engineering technology programs throughout the nation have observed declining graduation rates and quality of incoming students.To engage students' interest in a technical career path, students must establish a link between the theoretical knowledge and its application to solve real-life problems early in their learning experience.Project-based activities have a proven record as an instructional tool.The effectiveness of such activities as a pedagogical tool has been supported by research in acquiring and retaining knowledge.Here we propose a new platform called The Blue Tech Project to offer project-based activities to a vast group of audiences in academia and industries.The Blue Tech Project attempts to address the workforce issue for the blue economy by developing project-based learning kits and associated instructional modules along with a broad range of extra-curricular activities to engage students in STEM tracks and increase awareness about blue economy careers.The teacher training component of the project will provide training in using and implementing these modules.In this article, we present the motivation behind developing these project-based learning (PBL) modules, issues related to implementation, and results from student and teacher workshops.