A novel engineering outreach to high school education

The demand for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students consistently outpaces supply. One of the recognized means for improving the readiness of high school students for STEM-related careers is outreach to high school programs. The newly created Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State University San Marcos has partnered with the E3 Alliance and Project Lead The Way (PLTW) to create an opportunity for high school students to receive college credit in engineering disciplines for a set of advanced high school STEM courses. Many previous STEM-related high school outreach efforts have centered on skills in mathematics and the basic sciences. Less early emphasis on engineering skills is not surprising since most engineering skills require strong mathematics and science skills as prerequisites. This paper identifies a set of skills common to many engineering disciplines which can be taught contemporaneously with high school mathematics and science courses. This paper also describes a set of courses for high school that provide these engineering skills. Based on the success of these initial efforts, Texas State and E3 Alliance are pursuing additional collaborative efforts incorporating both additional area high schools and peer institutions such as Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Tyler, and Austin Community College.