At state, federal levels, ASME keeps spotlight on K-12 SMET education

Mary Legatski
ASME Government Relations

Strengthening science, math, engineering and technology (SMET) education in U.S. grades K-12 continues to be the No. 1 issue of concern for ASME members at both the state and national levels, according to a survey of the membership last year.

(To review Public Policy Agenda: Federal and State Issue Priorities of ASME, visit www.asme.org/gric.)

Accordingly, ASME's Board on Government Relations (BGR) is continuing its outreach to bring this important workforce issue to the attention of policymakers at all levels. Two recent events are of special note.

Rep. Vernon Ehlers addresses ASME members and others during a meeting last month on Capitol Hill.

"Educating for a Stronger Tomorrow," a breakfast forum for members of the 124th Ohio General Assembly, was hosted by ASME's State Action Program and co-sponsored by a group of ASME members in Ohio who are interested in legislative issues. That ASME group is known as the Ohio Council.

On March 28 in Columbus, Jeffrey Leaf, vice president of ASME's Board on Pre-College Education, addressed the assembly of legislators and engineers on the importance of science and mathematics in Grades K-12.

Leaf's remarks were particularly well timed, as the Ohio General Assembly is in the process of considering legislation dealing with education funding and curriculum content.

During his presentation, Leaf stressed the importance of developing curricula that aid students' critical thinking and problem solving skills, core competencies needed to equip people for everyday life in a technological society.

"Students should not be required to memorize," Leaf said, "but rather, to analyze and synthesize."

Students must also be able to demonstrate their ability to apply knowledge to solve problems, not merely repeat memorized facts. "Education should be about outcomes, not process," he concluded.

Another breakfast briefing took place last month. "Engineering Our Future With Partnerships" was held to acquaint congressional staffers with the national security and capable workforce implications of advancing SMET curricula in Grades K-12.

During that meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Leaf moderated the event, which was co-sponsored by ASME and a number of engineering societies.

The keynote speaker, Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., the first Ph.D. physicist ever elected to Congress, expressed optimism that the 107th Congress would enact legislation to strengthen math and science education in grades K-12.

Ehlers, the author of a trio of education-strengthening bills in the last Congress, said he believes that the Bush administration's emphasis on K-12 education will provide the momentum necessary for Congress to take definitive action.

Ioannis Miaoulis, Dean of Engineering at Tufts University and a leading proponent of including engineering and technology concepts in the public school curricula (see "In Bay State, Kindergartners to Learn About Mechanical Engineering" in the April issue of ASME NEWS), observed that "engineering education offers an excellent platform for problem/project-based learning. It integrates knowledge from other disciplines and enables children to move from observing and formulating ideas to constructing finished projects."

Miaoulis emphasized that engineering can provide the relevance of math and science that today's K-12 students are seeking.

The final speaker, Charles Lovas, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Southern Methodist University, described the partnership between the Institute for Diversity in Engineering and Society and the Society of Automotive Engineers to foster awareness of engineering in the Texas public school system.

ASME's position statement on SMET education in Grades K-12, "Strengthening Pre-College Science, Math, Engineering and Technology Education: The Technological Literacy and Workforce Imperative," may be viewed at www.asme.org/gric/ps01.html.

For more information on K-12 education issues, contact Patti Burgio at (202) 785-3756 or burgiop. asme.org.

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