This message is being circulated at the request of Caucus Members. We are happy
to circulate to Caucus staff information on letters, legislation, or events relating
to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education.
Reminder: The Caucus does not endorse any specific initiatives or legislation but
instead strives to inform Members and staff about matters related to STEM Education.
ATTENTION Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
(STEM) Education
CAUCUS STAFFERS:
February 2009 News Briefs on STEM Education
In this Issue:
1.
U.S. Science is Lagging Internationally — But How,
Exactly?
2.
‘Swimming Against the Tide’: New Report Examines
African American Women in Science
3.
New Report on Science Learning in Informal
Environments
5.
Newly introduced STEM Education Legislation
1. U.S. Science is Lagging
Internationally — But How, Exactly?
(Inside Higher Ed. 1/15)
A new report does
find that, in a marked change from 30 years earlier, most of the 23 developed countries
had, by 2005, surpassed the United States in the ratio of degrees in the natural
sciences and engineering awarded to the population of 20- to 24-year-olds. But that
fact is attributable, the report found, more to growth in the number of university
graduates the other countries produced than it is to their increased emphasis on
science and engineering.
2. ‘Swimming Against the Tide’:
New Report Examines African American Women in Science
(Inside Higher Ed. 2/2)
Many educators worry that the ability
of the United States to produce enough scientists will fall short unless a more
diverse group of students are recruited to science study — and thrive. Despite the
odds, some black females do succeed in science.
Swimming Against the Tide: African American Girls and Science Education (Temple University Press) looks at
why some students succeed, and the roadblocks they face along the way. The book
is based on a combination of statistics, surveys and interviews.
3. New Report on Science Learning
in Informal Environments
(National Academies 1/14/09)
Each year, tens of millions of Americans, young and old, choose to learn about science
in informal ways -- by visiting museums and aquariums, attending after-school programs,
pursuing personal hobbies, and watching TV documentaries, for example. There
is abundant evidence that these programs and settings, and even everyday experiences
such as a walk in the park, contribute to people's knowledge and interest in science,
says a new report from the National Research Council.
4. Engineering
Schools Prove Slow to Change (Chronicle
of Higher Ed, 1/30)
Engineering has long been recognized as a key to the U.S. economy. Yet for more
than 20 years, colleges of engineering have been warned that they are failing to
keep their curricula and teaching methods relevant, threatening the profession and,
by extension, the nation's economic prosperity.
5. Recently Introduced STEM Legislation
This
is a record of recently introduced legislation related to STEM Ed. but does not
represent Caucus endorsement of any legislation
H.R.266 Title: Cybersecurity Education Enhancement
Act of 2009
Sponsor:
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18] (introduced 1/7/2009)
Cosponsors: (none)
Committees: House Science and Technology; House Education
and Labor; House Homeland Security
Latest Major Action: 1/7/2009 Referred to House subcommittee.
Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.
H.R.461 Title: 10,000 Trained by 2010 Act
Sponsor:
Rep Wu, David [D-OR-1] (introduced 1/13/2009)
Cosponsors:
15
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 1/13/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.705 Title: National STEM Education Tax Incentive
for Teachers Act of 2009
Sponsor:
Rep Ehlers, Vernon J. [R-MI-3] (introduced 1/27/2009)
Cosponsors:
11
Committees: House Ways and Means
Latest Major Action: 1/27/2009 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education Caucus’ primary mission is to
promote all areas of STEM Education including K-12, higher education and workforce
issues in Congress. At its core, the caucus functions to increase the visibility
and importance of STEM Education and educate Members of Congress and their staffs
on the technical issues and public-policy options surrounding STEM education.
The Caucus serves as an information source and a catalyst for improving STEM education.
If you would like to join the Caucus, please contact Julia Jester (x53831) in Mr.
Ehlers’ office or staff (x55701) in Mr. Dan Lipinski’s office.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i21/21a00401.htm
|
From the issue dated January 30, 2009 |
NEWS ANALYSIS
Engineering Schools Prove Slow to Change
By PAUL BASKEN
Engineering has long been recognized as a key to the U.S. economy. Yet for more
than 20 years, colleges of engineering have been warned that they are failing to
keep their curricula and teaching methods relevant, threatening the profession and,
by extension, the nation's economic prosperity.
Now, after a close-up look at 40 American engineering schools, the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching has released a new report on the matter, but the
diagnosis is old news: A widespread emphasis on textbook-heavy theory over hands-on
practice discourages many students and leaves the ones that remain unprepared for
real-world problems.
With the difficulty long known, why have solutions been so elusive? Among the reasons
cited by college leaders: a faculty culture resistant to change, and perceived pressure
from accreditors.
At the nation's largest producer of engineers, the Georgia Institute of Technology,
the chairs of electrical and mechanical engineering need only to look down the street
at the shiny new biomedical-engineering building to see what they are missing.
Most notably: women. Georgia Tech's decade-old biomedical-engineering program doesn't
look like other engineering fields. Its female enrollment reached 39 percent last
fall, dwarfing the 9 percent in electrical and computer engineering and the 12 percent
in mechanical engineering. And that matters, according to Georgia Tech officials,
because women as a group form one of the largest and clearest examples of students
who will choose an academic major only if they understand why their contribution
might matter to the wider society.
Nationwide, men planning to major in engineering outnumbered women more than five
to one among 2007 freshmen, according to figures compiled by the University of California
at Los Angeles.
Because Georgia Tech started its biomedical-engineering program from scratch, it
incorporated many newer teaching approaches recommended in studies by Carnegie and
groups that include the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of
Engineering.
The "problem-based approach" in Georgia Tech's biomedical-engineering program includes
asking sophomores to spend an entire semester exploring a big-picture question,
such as how to keep the blood supply safe from the AIDS virus, said Laurence J.
Jacobs, a professor of civil and mechanical engineering and an associate dean at
Georgia Tech. Other colleges are having a much more difficult time introducing such
changes in their traditional engineering programs because of faculty members who
"are very, very protective of their curricula," Mr. Jacobs said.
Changing faculty attitudes is the key, said an author of the Carnegie report, Sheri
D. Sheppard, a professor of mechanical engineering and an associate vice provost
for graduate education at Stanford University.
The science foundation has spent millions of dollars trying to encourage universities
to break up old styles of teaching, and it still couldn't overcome the "cultural
issue of change" among faculty members, Ms. Sheppard said.
It may take actual declines in engineering enrollments before American colleges
take meaningful action, said Moshe Kam, head of electrical and computer engineering
at Drexel University and a former vice president for educational activities at the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
That day may soon arrive, Mr. Kam said. Figures issued this month by the science
foundation show that while overall engineering enrollment is still growing, the
United States has fallen behind most of the world's 23 developed countries in the
percentage of college degrees awarded in engineering and the natural sciences.
Some colleges contend that they are hindered by accreditation practices that make
it tougher to prove student achievement when they use nontraditional teaching methods,
Mr. Kam said.
But those kinds of assertions sound like excuses, Ms. Sheppard said. "It may be
more hassle" to change both teaching methods and accreditation procedures, she said.
"Yet if you really believed it was a better way, you'd do it."
http://chronicle.com
Section: Guide
Volume 55, Issue 21, Page A4
Julia
Jester, Ph.D.
Deputy
Legislative Director
Office
of Congressman Ehlers
RHOB
2182
Washington,
D.C. 20515
phone
(202) 225.3831
fax
(202) 225.5144