May 2008

2008 NCETE Summer Workshop to be held at University of Minnesota

The NCETE Summer Workshop will be held at the University of Minnesota May 22-23, 2008.  Ted Lewis, NCETE PI at the University of Minnesota site, is hosting this event.  Research in the field of engineering and technology education will be the focus of the meeting.  The first day’s theme will be Doctoral Research in Engineering and Technology Education.  NCETE fellows will be joined by doctoral students from Tufts University, Virginia Tech, Colorado State University, Purdue University, and Ohio State University as they share research interests and build professional networks. 

The second day’s theme will be What Research is needed on the Infusion of Engineering Design into the High School Curriculum?  Individuals will be invited to discuss various topics pertaining to this theme.

March 2008

Research in Professional Development

In March, North Carolina A&T State University and California State University, Los Angeles began a pilot study of the research oriented, NCETE developed professional development program. This collaborative effort, lead by Vincent Childress at NC A&T and Don Maurizio at CSULA, is an exemplary professional development program based on the experiences in professional development within the Center and the current body of research on professional development. Technology, science and math teachers from Virginia, North Carolina and California are participating.

The PD is divided into spring and summer sessions. The focus of the spring sessions is to increase the teacher’s subject matter knowledge in engineering design and strengthen their mastery of pedagogical content knowledge. The summer sessions will focus on incorporating engineering content into the curriculum and activities the teachers are already conducting in their classes.

Two qualitative researchers are observing each of the workshop sessions. As the sessions continue in the summer, there will be more opportunities to study the unique aspects of this professional development. Three of these unique aspects include
1) professional development of teams of teachers from science, technology, and mathematics, 2) professional development teams including engineers, technology educators, and mathematics educators, 3) and teachers incorporating engineering design into their existing curricula.

February 2008

Graduate Fellows and New Faculty Leadership Development Seminar

On February 20, 2008, the NCETE Leadership Development Team, lead by Maurice Thomas, sponsored a graduate fellows and new faculty leadership development seminar in conjunction with the NCETE spring meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.  NCETE graduate fellows cohorts one and two, and CTTE 21st Century Leaders Associates cohorts one and two participated.  The purpose of the seminar was to promote networking and collaboration, share research, and explore international opportunities in technology education. 

 

 

The morning session presentations were given by NCETE fellows David Stricker, Doug Walrath, Cameron Denson, Nathan Mentzer, and Todd Kelly.  Each fellow discussed his dissertation research. 

The afternoon session began with a presentation by Gene Martin of Texas State University.  He discussed international opportunities in technology education.  Following Dr. Martin, an expert panel consisting of Ed Reeve of USU, Kurt Becker of USU, Brian McAlister of UW-Stout and Scott Johnson of UIUC addressed such international topics as Fulbright Fellowships, skills development, foreign teaching opportunities, and coordinating and teaching graduate programs abroad. 

 

 

Spring meeting at ITEA

NCETE once again held its annual spring meeting in conjunction with ITEA. The partners met in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 19, 2008.  Chris Hailey, NCETE PI, opened the meeting with a welcome and overview of the day’s plans.  Dan Householder followed with reflections on center work. He displayed a “mind map” that effectively portrayed the Center goals and related activities.  Following Dan, Maurice Thomas discussed the accomplishments in the area of leadership development and Kurt Becker shared updates of the fellows.  After a short break, Vincent Childress discussed the professional development research efforts and Roger Hill addressed Center communication. 

The afternoon began with a discussion of the professional development landscape study being conducted by Rod Custer, Brian McAlister and Jenny Daugherty.  He was followed by Ken Welty who shared information regarding the curriculum landscape study.  The meeting concluded with a presentation by Inverness Research, Inc., Center external evaluator, and a roundtable discussion of Center next steps. 

January 2008

USU Announces New NCETE Fellow

Matthew Lammi is the newest NCETE fellow.  He joined the NCETE cohort two in January.  Matthew graduated from BYU with a degree in electronics engineering technology.  He worked for eight years in the aerospace and cellular phone industries.  Matthew also enjoyed teaching information technology and electronics at ITT for a year before beginning his graduate studies.  Matthew is working on his Master’s degree and PhD concurrently at Utah State University.

December 2007

Professional Development Planning Session

Professional Development Team members from North Carolina A&T State University and California State University, Los Angeles met Monday, December 17 and Tuesday, December 18 in Salt Lake City. They made significant progress in planning the sequence of activities to be included in the pilot study of the NCETE professional development approach during the year ahead. Vince Childress led the group discussions, which focused on the refinement of the planned sequence of activities and developed clear links from goals to objectives, activities, outcomes, and indicators of success. Monday's working session included Vince Childress, Don Maurizio, Ali Abul-Fadl, and Mark Tufenkjian. At the Tuesday session, Jim Dorward and Jodi Cullum, Internal Evaluators, worked with the group on the development of a plan for evaluating the pilot test. Kurt Becker and Dan Householder also participated in the sessions.

October 2007

CASEE Workshop in Milwaukee, WI

NCETE is one of 27 research community affiliates of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE). CASEE, an initiative of the National Academy of Engineering, seeks to build a more supportive environment for educational scholarship within the engineering community. CASEE holds a one-day conference in conjunction with the Frontiers in Education Conference each year. Dan Householder represented NCETE at the 2007 Conference held October 9 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kamyan Haghighi of Purdue University, Rohan Abeyaratne of MIT, Cindy Atman of the University of Washington, and John Dickens of Loughborough University were the keynote speakers.

Their presentations are available at:

http://www.nae.edu/nae/caseecomnew.nsf/weblinks/NFOY-77U4FV?OpenDocument.

September 2007

2007 NCETE Fall Workshop at NCA&TSU

Barbie at NCAT

The National Center for Engineering and Technology Education held its 2007   fall workshop September 24, 25 at North Carolina A&T State University.  The workshop was hosted by Vincent Childress, principal investigator for the NCA&T site, with the assistance of Craig Rhodes. The meeting’s main topics were professional development, research, and legacy.

The workshop opened with a professional development demonstration by Carolyn DeCristofano from the Boston Museum of Science. As part of her demonstration, Carolyn presented a design challenge. The challenge was to create a bungee cord for the Olympic Bungee Jumping team. The dolls used to simulate contestants, and bungee making materials were given to the bungee cord design teams and they went to work. Rarely do you see college professors playing with Barbie dolls with so much enthusiasm.  After the design period, the bungee cords were tested.  The dolls did not fare as well as the contestants hoped, and it was clear that helmet design would be very important for the Olympic Bungee Jumping team. After the design challenge, Carolyn led a discussion about the engineering design process and effective professional development. 

The research session began with presentations by three former journal editors. Mark Sanders founding editor of Journal of Technology Education, Janet Burns past editor of Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, and Marie Hoepfl past editor of Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, each addressed the question “What must NCETE do to meet the challenge of leading the research effort in engineering and technology education?”  Their ideas included changing the culture to a research paradigm, mentoring students and young faculty, taking cues from other fields, and promoting research interests.   

The other main issue for the conference was creating a plan to help develop a legacy for the Center once NSF funding ends. The participants produced a “To Do List” for establishing this legacy. Items on the list included: positioning the Center in a leadership role that is respected by the engineering and technology education spectrum, expanding the role and membership of the Center in other programs with similar goals, and increasing research and other scholarly activities between faculty and fellows.

CTTE / NCETE Career Leadership and Professional Development Initiative

The first CTTE / NCETE sponsored Career Leadership and Professional Development Initiative was held September 11-13, in Washington, D.C.  According to the initiative proposal, the program focused on enriching, “early-career faculty members and … assist[ing] them with their professional advancement.”

The initiative began with a group dinner to help foster a sense of community among the early-career faculty. Many of the participants enjoyed the inclusion of outside activities. They felt it was a chance to build camaraderie and professional relationships.

The program opened the next morning with breakfast followed by a presentation on professional association leadership. The presentation was lead by Kendall Starkweather, Executive Director of the ITEA, and Bill Kelly, head of ASEE’s Public Affairs Department. The presentation focused on how to gain leadership roles in professional organizations. Following a short break, the group reconvened for a presentation on leadership in engineering education by Greg Pearson, author of Tech Tally and program officer for the NAE. Lunch was followed by a trip to the offices of the National Science Foundation. There the attendees heard from Karen Zuga, professor at Ohio State University and program officer for the NSF. Zuga outlined current NSF projects, as well as other opportunities available to the attendees. The group assembled in the evening for another group dinner.

The third day began with a presentation on federal policy and funding by Patti Curtis, managing director of the Washington office of the Museum of Science, Boston. This presentation focused on sources of funding and current advances in STEM. The initiative closed with a wrap up and discussion

August 2007

New Fellows Orientation at USU

 

Joseph Meyer, Leah Roue, Michael Nehring, Chandra Austin, Benjamin Franske, Edward Locke, Daniel Wixted, Raymond Dixon, Deborah Williams.

On Thursday and Friday, August 9 and 10, NCETE hosted the new fellows at an orientation / leadership meeting at Utah State University.  On Thursday morning, USU College of Engineering Dean, Scott Hinton, welcomed the second cohort of doctoral fellows, after which Chris Hailey, Dan Householder and Tom Erekson shared with the fellows the vision, purpose and objectives of  NCETE. Bob Wicklein of UGA and Ted Lewis of UMN demonstrated the distance education delivery of the core courses and discussed the forthcoming role of research.

A significant aspect of the orientation was the earthquake engineering design activity presented by Mark Tufenkjian, professor of civil engineering at California State University, Los Angeles. Doctoral fellows worked in teams to determine optimal building heights based upon the natural frequency of model buildings and their displacement given several magnitudes of earthquakes simulated on a shake table. This approach to engineering design as a process of analysis and synthesis provided a foundation for analytic engineering approaches to technology education activities.

On Friday morning, Kendall Starkweather, Executive Director of the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) welcomed each of the fellows and spoke about leadership.  Following his presentation, the group toured the Utah Water Research Lab. This state of the art lab demonstrated engineering in action as it applied to water research with dams, erosion, and hydroelectric power generation.

Throughout the two day orientation, the new fellows were given the opportunity to meet and talk with cohort one fellows Cameron Denson, Jenny Daugherty, Dave Stricker, Nathan Mentzer and Doug Walrath. In addition, an evening at the Celebration Centre provided countless opportunities for all the fellows to develop personal and professional ties through activities such as go-cart racing, bungee jumping, and the world’s tallest free fall tower.

All fellows succeeded in making it through the orientation in one piece and NCETE warmly welcomes each of the new doctoral fellows.

July 2007

Professional Development Model Workshops

The NCETE Professional Development Model Workshop was held at Illinois State University, July 30 through August 3, 2007.  NCETE partners and evaluators were joined by classroom teachers during the five day event. 

Doctoral Program Planning Meeting

NCETE partners from USU, UIUC, UMN and UGA met in Chicago, Illinois on July 10th to refine the core courses and other aspects of the fellows’ doctoral program. 

 PD Model Planning Meeting

NCETE partners from USU, BYU, NCAT, ISU and CSULA met in Chicago, Illinois on July 6th and 7th to finalize plans for the professional development model workshop scheduled for July 30th through August 3rd. The planning and development of the PD model workshop has been a major activity since the beginning of the Center.  Two years of PD pilot studies conducted at five of the partner sites is now being brought together in the development of an NCETE Professional Development Model. 

 Dan Householder Joins NCETE Team

Dan Householder, former NSF Program Officer and NCETE consultant, has joined the NCETE team as Co-PI.  His past contributions to the Center have been invaluable, and his expertise will benefit the ongoing Center research and activities.

June 2007

Maurice Thomas Retires

Maurice Thomas, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, former ETE Department Head, and NCETE Co-PI, retired from Utah State University at the end of June.  Maurice has worked in the field of Engineering and Technology Education for over 40 years and his expertise and influence will be missed.  Fortunately, he will continue to work with the Center as the chair of the Leadership Development team. 

 

Annual Report Submitted to NSF

The NCETE Year-Three Annual Report was submitted to NSF on June 15, 2007.

2007 ASEE Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii

Two papers by NCETE partners were presented at the 2007 ASEE conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Kurt Becker, ETE department head at Utah State University and NCETE co-PI, presented a paper titled, The National Center for Engineering and Technology Education: Supporting Teacher Professional Development.

Center partners Steve Shumway, Brigham Young University; Jared Berrett, Brigham Young University; Andy Swapp, Milford High School; Ronald Terry, Brigham Young University; and Thomas Erekson, Western Illinois University, made a presentation titled A Successful Professional Development Activity to Infuse Engineering Content for Utah 9-12 Teachers.

Cohort 2 Fellows Selected

NCETE is pleased to announce the second cohort of nine doctoral fellows.  They are Deborah Williams and Edward Locke at the University of Georgia; Raymond Dixon and Joseph Meyer at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Chandra Austin, Benjamin Franske, Leah Roue and Michael Nehring at the University of Minnesota ; and Daniel Wixted at Utah State University.

May 2007

2007 NCETE Summer Workshop at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois State University

The third annual NCETE summer workshop was hosted by UIUC and ISU on May 16 -18. Center faculty, doctoral students and an Advisory Board member attended the meeting. On May 16, the meeting was held on the UIUC campus and Linda Katehi, Provost of UIUC and former Dean of the College of Engineering at Purdue, provided an opening session where she highlighted issues in engineering education. Mary Kalantzis, Dean of Education at UIUC, provided remarks on contemporary issues in education. Ty Newell, Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering at UIUC, discussed engineering disciplines, fields, and careers and introduced a unique example of engineering optimization in the design of a solar house. Details about the Solar House Design Competition project at UIUC helped contextualize engineering optimization and designas well as the role of systems engineering.

On May 17, the meeting was held on the ISU campus where a panel of classroom teachers described their experiences in infusing engineering design into the classroom to help connect Center research with practice. Center faculty and fellows continued their work on the professional development model.

For the morning of May 18, the doctoral fellows developed the workshop activities which consisted of a series of formal debates on three topics: The Role of Engineering in Education, Operational Perspectives on Integrating Engineering into the Classroom, and Psychological Foundations for Engineering Design. For each of the topics, one of the fellows provided formal comments on one position. Another fellow provided comments on the opposing position and each had an opportunity for rebuttal. The fellows also sponsored a panel discussion of the professional challenges faced by new university faculty members as they begin their careers as assistant professors in engineering and technology education. During the afternoon of May 18, the Center sponsored a Research Symposium. The symposium program consisted of fellows and faculty members reporting on the findings of the six exploratory studies funded during the first year of Center operation. Following the presentations, a team of fellows and consultants provided critiques of the research and reports.

NCETE Participants Australia

Ed Reeve, NCETE core course instructor, and Maurice Thomas, Center Co-PI, obtained funding from NSF for a workshop planning meeting with Griffith University in Australia. The workshop was held the first week of May 2007.  Four NCETE fellows, Doug Walrath, Katrina Cox, Jenny Daugherty, and David Stricker, were selected to attend the meeting. During the trip, fellows had the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the planning meetings where they learned how technology education was practiced in Australia. They also had the opportunity to visit local schools to see technology education inaction. In addition, each fellow was required to prepare a presentation for the Australian faculty on an assigned topic related to technology and engineering education in the U.S. Fellows gave presentations on the following topics: Engineering and Technology Education as Practiced in the U.S.; Preparing Engineering and Technology Education Teachers in the U.S.; Current and Future Research and Educational Needs in Engineering and Technology Education in the U.S.; and Collaborating and Conducting Research and Education Activities via the Internet. Overall the trip was major success, especially for the fellows, as it provided them with an international experience early in their careers so that they can start to build an international research, teaching, and service agenda.

March 2007

2007 ITEA in San Antonio, Texas

After only two and a half years, NCETE is significantly influencing the field of engineering and technology education.  The recent International Technology Education Association (ITEA) conference in San Antonio is an indicator of this influence.  Fifteen presentations were given by Center partners including such topics as Engineering Outcomes for High School, Making Engineering Work in Your School, Creative Engineering Activities for Elementary (Grades 4-6), Integrating Engineering Into Technology Teacher Education, African American Students’  Perceptions of Technical Careers, Global Insights on Engineering Design as Content, Manufacturing Engineering – A Lean Approach, Delivering Key Engineering Concepts Using STL, Technological Literacy and USU General Education Students.  There were also several posters presented by NCETE partners including Young Women’s Perceptions of Technology and Engineering, Delivering Core Engineering Concepts to Secondary Students, and Analysis of Preservice / Licensure Technology Education Programs in the US.

At the ITEA conference, NCETE Program Officer, Karen Zuga, invited the NCETE fellows to participate in an NSF Special Interest Session.  The session was an excellent opportunity for the fellows to share a piece of empirical research they had worked on during the course of their PhD program.  The fellows  research posters discussed topics such as Cognitive Processes of High School Student Solving Ill-defined Technical Problems; Microgravity Environments: A Comparative Analysis of Expert and Novice Cognitive Reasoning Abilities; Roles of Mental Models in Engineering Re-design; and Expert and Novice Engineering Design Problem Solving: Implications for Technology Teacher Preparation;

 

NCETE Researchers Receive Award

At the recent International Technology Education Association conference in San Antonio, Texas, a team of NCETE researchers was recognized by the Council on Technology Teacher Education (CTTE) for their research on delivering core engineering concepts to secondary level students through the Council’s Outstanding Research Award. Research team members included Chris Merrill, Rodney Custer, Jenny Daugherty, Marty Westrick, and Yong Zeng. The study, involving eight Illinois high schools and 114 students, consisted of delivering a set of activities to students that were specifically designed to deliver COPA engineering concepts (constraints, optimization, and predictive analysis). The activities were developed by technology teachers with the assistance of science and mathematics teachers who participated in ISU’s teacher professional development activities over the past two years. Assessment included pre- and post-testing as well as a series of focus groups. Results of the study indicate that the instruction achieved significant gains in student learning of the COPA concepts across a spectrum of conceptual complexity. Significant learning gains were also achieved with students with varying degrees of mathematics and science background, which suggests that engineering concepts, properly formulated and delivered, can be delivered to students with diverse preparation backgrounds.

2007 NCETE Spring Meeting in San Antonio, Texas

The 2007 NCETE Spring Meeting was held in San Antonio, Texas, on March 13th and 14th just prior the ITEA Conference.  The Center participants presented reports regarding the Center accomplishments, reorganization, research, leadership development, landscape studies, PD model development, and the PD Symposium.  The external evaluators, Jen Helms and Michelle Phillips from Inverness Research Associates, presented their preliminary finding from surveys of the fellows and their Center evaluation.  There are also breakout sessions for the doctoral program, leadership development, landscape studies, sustainability, and PD model development.

February 2007

CLT PI Meeting

On January 30, NCETE representatives met with the Center Advisory Board to share progress and to obtain insights from their perspectives. Representing the Advisory Board were Christine Cunningham (chair), Pat Wilson, Gene Martin and Mel Robinson. Norman Fortenberry and Janet Kolodner could not attend. The NCETE doctoral fellows also attended the meeting and gave five minute presentations on what they have learned during their experiences as doctoral students and where they see themselves after graduation. Karen Zuga and external evaluators Jen Helms and Michelle Phillips also observed the session.

Professional Development Symposium – Dallas Texas

A related professional development activity conducted by NCETE personnel was an NSF-funded project titled A National Symposium to Explore Effective Practices for the Professional Development of K-12 Engineering and Technology Education Teachers. The symposium was held in Dallas, TX in February 2007. Fifty-two individuals from across the STEM disciplines, consisting of professional developers, teacher educators, technology supervisors, curriculum specialists, and technology teachers participated in the symposium.
The goal of the National Symposium was to assemble a group of key stakeholders with specialized expertise in professional development from mathematics, science, engineering and technology to share expertise and explore models for standards-based professional development. Key goals of the symposium were to (a) examine the applicability of existing teacher professional development models for engineering and technology education and (b) develop a foundation for developing models for technology education professional development, based on contemporary pedagogy.

A set of preliminary perceptions emerged from the symposium. These include:

• There is a need for increased dialogue among the STEM disciplines.
• The concept of pedagogical content knowledge specific to engineering and technology education is insufficiently developed and needs to be explored in depth.
• The models for professional development are more fully developed in science and mathematics than in engineering and technology education.
• The models for professional development developed for mathematics and science are applicable to engineering and technology education.
• Engineering and technology professional developers could benefit substantially from the work of mathematics and science professional developers.
• The delivery of mathematics and science content are key professional development challenges for engineering and technology education teachers.
• Shifting the emphasis to the identification and delivery of targeted concepts represents a significant professional development challenge for engineering and technology education teachers.
• There is a need to incorporate research from the cognitive sciences into professional development planning, implementation and research.

The symposium proceedings include nine refereed papers, syntheses of small focus group sessions, a rapporteur’s report, PowerPoint presentation slides for all sessions, external evaluator comments, and other logistical information. These materials will be posted to the symposium’s website and will be disseminated electronically to all conference participants as well as to a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

January 2007

Advisory Board Meeting

The NCETE Advisory Board Meeting was held January 30, 2007 in Washington, D.C.  Board members in attendance were Patricia Wilson from the University of Georgia, Norman Fortenberry from the National Academy of Engineering, Christine Cunningham from the Boston Museum of Science, Mel Robinson from the Utah State Office of Education, and Gene Martin from Texas State University.  The Center was represented by Christine Hailey, Maurice Thomas, Rod Custer, and Scott Johnson.  The NCETE fellows also attended the meeting.

Fellows’ Leadership Development Meeting – Washington, D.C.

On January 29, 2007, the NCETE fellows met in Washington, DC at the National Academy of Engineering for a special leadership development meeting.  The event was coordinated by Maurice Thomas, Associate Dean of Engineering at Utah State University, and NCETE Co-PI.  The meeting began with a presentation by Patty Curtis, Managing Director of the Boston Museum of Science in the Washington Office.  Her topic was Influencing Federal Policies.  She was followed by Kendall Starkweather, Executive Director of the International Technology Education Association (ITEA).  His topic was Leadership through Professional Organizations. 

In the afternoon the fellows were given a special tour of NSF by NCETE program officer Karen Zuga.  They then participated in a discussion of NSF programs, proposals and funds. 

October 2006

NCETE Fellows Participate in ASEE Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

NCETE Research Director, Scott Johnson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and four NCETE fellows, Yong Zeng of UIUC, Jenny Daugherty of UIUC, Cameron Denson of UGA, and Doug Walrath of USU, traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October and attended the first annual Student Forum for the Global Colloquium on Engineering Education.

Students from around the globe met during the daylong Student Forum to exchange ideas and learn about how engineers are educated in other countries. The students divided into groups to discuss such topics as elementary and secondary education and how it might attract more students to engineering; engineering education research; the strengths of various methods of preparing engineering students around the world; and sustainability and globalization. The students moderated the breakout discussions and reported the highlights of their discussion to the full group. An evaluation of the Student Forum resulted in a very positive response. The Forum helped to foster cross-cultural discussions on global issues that face engineering in the future.

The NCETE fellows were also active participants in the main conference of the Global Colloquium. The opportunity to participate in a major international conference focused on engineering education provided a unique experience for the fellows. The topics that were discussed covered a wide range of critical issues facing engineering and technology education. These included how to attract a more diverse clientele to engineering, how to improve the quality of the teaching and learning process in engineering and technology education, and strategies for internationalizing the curriculum. In addition to hearing about cutting edge ideas and current research efforts, the fellows had the opportunity to establish professional networks with students, faculty, and industrial representatives from around the globe. The NCETE fellows served as ambassadors for both the Center and the field of technology education. Their active involvement in scholarly discussions raise the awareness of engineering educators and corporate sponsors to the current status and potential of technology education as a contributing partner in the advancement of engineering education.

2006 NCETE Fall Meeting at University of Wisconsin-Stout

 The 2006 NCETE Fall Meeting was held at the University of Wisconsin–Stout on October 12-14, 2006.  

AUGUST 2006

NCETE team member to start an pre-engineering program at a Utah high school

Dr. Jared Berrett, professor in the School of Technology at Brigham Young University and NCETE contributor, is taking a one-year leave of absence from BYU beginning in the fall of 2006 in order to focus on research in engineering education in high school. Dr. Berrett will be teaching full time at San Juan High School in Blanding, Utah, where he will start a pre-engineering program. During his absence, Dr. Berrett will continue as a member of the NCETE team.

JULY 2006

NCETE Management Team Meets in Chicago

The NCETE Management Team met in Chicago, Illinois, on July 7, 2006 , to discuss the future course and to refocus the goals of the Center. This meeting came in response to feedback and suggestions from NSF at the Reverse Site Visit which was held in May.

NCETE TTE Director named ISU Associate Vice President

Dr. Rodney Custer, chair of the Department of Technology at Illinois State University, NCETE Technology Teacher Education director, and NCETE Management Team member, has been named the new Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies, Research, and International Education. Dr. Custer will provide leadership in each of these areas and lead ISU's involvement at the Federal and State level in pursuing funding for projects and other initiatives. In addition to his new responsibilities, Dr. Custer will continue his role with NCETE.

Restructure at BYU

Dr. Ronald Terry, professor of Chemical Engineering at Brigham Young University , will replace Dr. Thomas Erekson as NCETE site director at BYU.

JUNE 2006

Year Two Annual Report

NCETE's Year Two Annual Report was completed and submitted to the National Science Foundation on June 15, 2006.

Year Two Research Grant

The 2006 NCETE Research Grants have been awarded. Of the six RFP's that were submitted, four received funding. The research grants offer NCETE fellows the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in the RFP process, which will greatly contribute to their future success as engineering and technology education researchers.

NCETE Co-Director Named Dean at WIU

Dr. Thomas Erekson, director of the School of Technology at Brigham Young University and NCETE co-director, has been named dean of the College of Business and Technology at Western Illinois University . Dr. Erekson served on the NCETE Management Team and was the NCETE site director at BYU. Dr. Erekson was first to explore the idea of a Center for Learning and Teaching for engineering and technology. His contributions to NCETE will be greatly missed.

MAY 2006

2006 NCETE Summer Workshop Held at the University of Georgia

The NCETE Summer Workshop was held May 17-20, 2006 at the University of Georgia at Athens. The three and a half day workshop, which was lead by NCETE Co-PI, Dr. Kurt Becker , began with welcomes from Dr. Bob Wicklein, NCETE UGA site director and Graduate Program director, Dr. Louis Castenell, Jr., dean of the College of Education, and Dr. Dale Threadgill, professor and department head of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
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NCETE Reverse Site Visit at NSF

The NCETE 18-month Reverse Site Visit with NSF to review and report Center progress was held May 1, 2006 in Washington DC. The Center was represented by Dr. Christine Hailey of USU, Dr. Scott Johnson of UIUC, Dr. Ted Lewis of UMN, Dr. Rod Custer of ISU, Dr. Tom Erekson of BYU, Dr. David Gattie of UGA, and Jenny Daugherty, NCETE fellow at UIUC.
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MARCH 2006

NCETE Faculty and Fellows Participate in ITEA Conference

The NCETE faculty and fellows participated in the 68th annual International Technology Education Association Conference that was held March 23-25, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. During the three day conference, the Center had an information booth where the fellows were able to talk to many technology education professionals about NCETE's work. The Center also sponsored a Sweet Treats Afternoon Break that allowed the faculty and fellows to share more information about the Center.
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2006 NCETE Spring Meeting held in Baltimore, Maryland

The 2006 NCETE Spring Meeting was held March 21-22 at the Wyndham Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. The meeting which was held just prior to the International Technology Education Association Conference (ITEA) was an opportunity for the NCETE faculty and fellows to meet together and discuss progress, successes and concerns.
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FEBRUARY 2006

CLT PI Meeting

On February 2-3, 2006, NCETE participated in the 5th annual Centers for Learning and Teaching Principal Investigators meeting in Washington, D.C. The Center was represented by Christine Hailey from USU, Tom Erekson from BYU, Roger Hill from UGA, as well as three fellows, Randy Knapp from UMN, Jenny Daugherty from UIUC, and Todd Kelley from UGA.
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JANUARY 2006

Advisory Board Meeting

The NCETE Advisory Board Meeting was held January 5, 2006 at the National Academy of Science in Washington, D.C. Board members in attendance were Pat Wilson from the University of Georgia, Norman Fortenberry from the National Academy of Engineering, Janet Kolodner from Georgia Institute of Technology, Christine Cunningham from the Boston Museum of Science, and Mel Robinson from the Utah State Office of Education. Gene Martin from Texas State University was unable to attend. The Center was represented by Christine Hailey, Kurt Becker , Maurice Thomas, Rod Custer, Scott Johnson and Tom Erekson. Center personnel updated the advisory board in the progress of the Center, including an introduction of the fellows, an overview of Core Course 1, future core courses, the Engineering Design Challenges, funded research projects, professional development, and a discussion regarding what the Center wants to be know for in five years. After the presentation, the board members met together to formulate their observations, suggestions, and concerns. The meeting concluded with final comments from the advisory board.

OCTOBER 2005

NCETE Fall Meeting at Cal State LA

NCETE leadership team meetings were held at Cal State LA on October 27 & 28, 2005. Participants from all nine NCETE universities gathered and discussed NCETE progress, plans and issues.
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TTE team member leaves NCETE

Dr. Michael Daugherty is no longer working with the NCETE team. Dr. Daugherty has accepted a position at the University of Arkansas in Fayette. His new position is an exciting opportunity for him to provide leadership to the development of a new technology education program. While working with NCETE, he made significant contributions to Illinois State University's professional development workshop. Dr. Daugherty will be missed as an active contributor to the NCETE TTE team.

AUGUST 2005

Doctoral Fellows meet in Washington DC

NCETE's first cohort of doctoral fellows attended introductory meetings in Washington DC on August 19 & 20, 2005.
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JUNE 2005

Annual report submitted

NCETE's First Year Annual Report was completed and submitted to the National Science Foundation.

MAY 2005

NCETE Summer workshop

The 2005 NCETE Summer Workshop was held at Utah State University May 23-26, 2005.
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APRIL 2005

NCETE accepts first cohort of fellows

NCETE accepted a total of 13 doctoral fellows into graduate programs at the following universities: The University of Georgia, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The University of Minnesota, and Utah State University.