TeachEngineering

TeachEngineering
Name	TeachEngineering
Type	Educational digital library
Established	2001
Owner	University of Colorado Boulder (original funding partners)
Focus	K–12 engineering curriculum

TeachEngineering

TeachEngineering is a digital library of standards-aligned engineering curricula for K–12 students, providing lesson plans, activities, assessments, and teacher guides. The project interfaces with universities, museums, and professional societies to translate engineering research and practice into classroom-ready materials. It aims to bridge higher education engineering expertise with K–12 classroom practice by collaborating with academic centers, nonprofit organizations, and government-funded initiatives.

Overview

TeachEngineering aggregates hands-on lessons, design challenges, worksheets, and multimedia targeted to elementary, middle, and high school levels, linking classroom activities to concepts from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Texas at Austin, University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, Duke University, Northwestern University, University of Washington, University of California, San Diego, Texas A&M University, Rice University, Ohio State University, University of Florida, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, Virginia Tech, University of Maryland, College Park, Iowa State University, Boston University, Tufts University, Brown University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Colorado Boulder, Clemson University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of California, Davis, Rutgers University, University of California, Irvine, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pittsburgh, Lehigh University, Colorado School of Mines, Oregon State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Arizona, Auburn University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, New York University, University of Cincinnati, Stony Brook University, Montana State University.

History and Development

The initiative began with grant support and faculty collaborations connecting engineering colleges and research centers such as National Science Foundation, National Academy of Engineering, American Society for Engineering Education, National Research Council, National Science Teachers Association, IEEE Foundation, Society of Women Engineers, ABET, Broadcom Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Lemelson Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, Office of Naval Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, National Endowment for the Humanities support networks. Early pilots involved partnerships with regional education cooperatives, state departments of education such as Colorado Department of Education and California Department of Education, and informal learning sites including Smithsonian Institution, Exploratorium, Science Museum of Minnesota, Museum of Science (Boston), Franklin Institute, Please Touch Museum.

Curriculum and Resources

Resources include curriculum modules that map to grade bands and link classroom activities to disciplinary core ideas from organizations like Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) partners and assessment consortia. Content types comprise lesson plans, student handouts, teacher implementation notes, formative assessments, rubric templates, and multimedia assets produced in collaboration with institutions such as PBS, Khan Academy, Discovery Education, National Geographic Society, American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Pedagogical Approach and Standards Alignment

TeachEngineering adopts engineering design process pedagogy influenced by scholarship from National Academy of Engineering, National Research Council, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Diane Ravitch-era curriculum analysis, and research centers at University of Washington Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching, Stanford d.school, MIT Teaching and Learning Laboratory, and University of Michigan Center for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning. Lessons foreground iterative design, problem-based learning, and inquiry-based approaches, with explicit alignment to standards and competencies cited by Common Core State Standards Initiative partners and accreditation frameworks used by ABET.

Technology and Platform

The platform is a searchable online repository built to support metadata tagging, lesson downloads in PDF format, and supplemental multimedia streaming. It integrates content management practices used by digital libraries such as MERLOT, OER Commons, National Science Digital Library, Google for Education, Microsoft Education Center, Coursera, edX, Saylor Academy, GitHub, YouTube EDU, Vimeo, and learning management interoperability similar to Canvas (learning management system), Moodle, Blackboard Learn, Schoology, Brightspace.

Partnerships and Funding

TeachEngineering’s sustainability model involves public-private partnerships with higher education engineering schools, professional societies, and philanthropic funders including foundations and federal grant programs. Institutional collaborators have included engineering faculties and outreach centers at University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, Purdue University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, North Carolina State University, Michigan Technological University, University of Tennessee, Clemson University, University of California system campuses, alongside nonprofit partners like FIRST Robotics Competition, Project Lead The Way, Girls Who Code, CoderDojo, National Girls Collaborative Project, Afterschool Alliance, and corporate supporters from Intel Corporation, Google LLC, Microsoft Corporation, Apple Inc., Amazon (company), Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Siemens, General Electric.

Impact and Reception

Adoption and evaluation studies reference impacts on teacher confidence, student engagement, and STEM pathway interest measured by research groups at SRI International, WestEd, American Institutes for Research, RAND Corporation, Urban Institute, EDC (Education Development Center), RTI International, Abt Associates, and university-based assessment teams. Reviews and citations appear in peer-reviewed outlets and conference proceedings from American Educational Research Association, ASEE Annual Conference, International Society for Technology in Education, National Science Teachers Association conferences, and journals affiliated with Journal of Engineering Education, Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

Category:Engineering education