The National Academy of Engineering--in collaboration with Arizona State University, the Boston Museum of Science, the University of Virginia, and the Colorado School of Mines--held the second of two workshops on October 18th and 19th at the House of Sweden in Washington, DC. The goal of the project on "Climate Change, Engineered Systems, and Society" is to transform education in formal and informal educational environments--especially science museums and undergraduate engineering departments--in order to prepare current and future engineers, policymakers, and the public to meet the challenges facing engineering in a dynamic climate system.This workshop provided an opportunity to learn about and develop new content standards for education surrounding engineering and climate change and network with other visionaries in this field.
The project is funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING WORKSHOP
Networking Educational Priorities for Climate, Engineered Systems, and Society
House of Sweden, Washington DC
October 18-19, 2011
AGENDA
Project Focus and Goals: The goal of the Climate Change Educational Partnership Phase I project on “Climate Change, Engineered Systems, and Society” is to develop a conceptual and educational framework and a network of change agents to promote effective formal and informal education for engineering students, policymakers and the public at large. The project should address, visibly and systematically, issues of climate and engineered systems, including governance, sustainability, justice, and public engagement and trust. The goal of the workshops component of the project is to lay the foundations for the project partners – the National Academy of Engineering, Arizona State University, Boston Museum of Science, Colorado School of Mines, and University of Virginia-Charlottesville - to use in developing the implementation plan for the second phase.
The project assumes that the role of engineered systems vis-à-vis climate and society provides important challenges and opportunities for formal and informal engineering education in classrooms, public forums, and science museums and centers, and those educational programs need to address both technical and societal issues. The implications of the interactions of engineered systems with climate - for engineers, engineering, and the public, must be recognized.
NAE Project Workshops: Considerable research and many reports identify problems expected from interactions among climate, engineered systems and societies; and some recommend solutions. More than a few consider problems of sustainability, as an environmental rather than a social issue. Relatively few consider or examine associated issues of governance, sustainability in social contexts, justice, and public engagement and trust. This project invites participants to explore the ways in which the separation of technical from social issues may affect the success of formal and informal educational programs and recommendations, and how to overcome the divide so as to increase the likelihood of success.
The first project workshop in June 2011 focused on the interactions among climate and social and technological systems. The upcoming workshop on October 18-19, 2011, at the House of Sweden in Washington, DC will focus on education about these interactions. The day prior to the workshop (October 17) consists of a project planning meeting with project team and external advisory board (EAB) members; days two and three are the public workshop. Available members of the team and advisory board may meet also for a short post-workshop review just following the event.
Workshop Program
Day One: Tuesday, October 18, 2011
8:30-9:15am Session I: Welcome and Introduction to the Program
This session provides a project overview and status report on the Phase I activities to date, with 5-minute slide presentations from the team leaders.
- Rachelle Hollander - The National Academy of Engineering (pdf)
- Juane Lucena - The Colorado School of Mines (pdf)
- Deborah Johnson - University of Virginia, Charlottesville (diagram pdf)
- Clark Miller - Arizona State University (diagram pdf)
- Paul Fontaine - Museum of Science, Boston
9:15-11:15am Session II: Effective Interventions in Undergraduate Engineering Education
The goal of session II is to educate project participants about engineering education innovations that can improve the process of integrating climate change and engineered systems (CC&ES) in engineering curricula and scale up across multiple institutions.
The session is divided in two one-hour parts. In Part I speakers address specific questions. The speakers are:
- Jason Delborne, Colorado School of Mines (Moderator)
- Ann McKenna, Arizona State University (pdf)
- Bob Madsen, Chief Dull Knife College
- Karl Smith, Purdue University/University of Minnesota (pdf)
- Suresh Dhaniyala, Clarkson University (pdf)
Part II is a panel-format dialogue to explore the answers further; three or four project representatives will join the speakers for a dialogue about these questions and answers. Audience members will submit questions to a moderator who will present them to the group for responses.
- Edward Berger, University of Virginia- Charlottesville
- Liz Cox, Red Rocks Community College
- Jen Janacek Hartman, United Tribes Technical College
- Jon Leydens and Junko Munakata Marr, Colorado School of Mines
11:15am-noon: Session III: Engineering in the K-12 Curriculum, A Review
Richard Duschl, Penn State University
Noon-1pm Lunch
1-1:45pm Plenary Welcome
Introduction: John Ahearne, NAE, Chair, CEES Advisory Group
Speaker: Charles Vest, President, National Academy of Engineering
1:45-3:45pm Session IV: Informal Education, Science Center Capabilities and Public Engagement
This session will explore the role that science and technology centers play in the educational community, their institutional strengths and limitations in communicating multifaceted information, and present a model for engaging the general public and school-aged audiences in the topic of climate change, engineered systems and society intended to function within and through the context of the larger CCEP collaboration. It consists of two parts: a panel overview followed by an open space exercise to explore the merits of key aspects of science center engagement.
- Paul Fontaine, Vice President of Programs, Museum of Science, Boston (Moderator) (pdf)
- Kate Crawford, Project Manager, Communicating Climate Change, Association of Science and Technology Centers, Washington, DC (pdf)
- Rae Ostman, Director of National Collaborative Projects, Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY (pdf)
- David Sittenfeld, Program Manager, Forum Program, Museum of Science, Boston (pdf)
3:45-4pm Break to go to Breakout Groups
4-5:30pm Breakouts
First Day Breakout Groups will consider the following (reporting back to a plenary):
- Ways to enhance undergraduate engineering curricula
- Community and tribal college programs
- K-12 education
- Informal education and public engagement
- Public policy education
- Outreach, dissemination, special projects
(Some breakout groups may consider several topics in the course of discussion. Organizers reserve right to rearrange these sessions based on expressions of interest and program changes.
Adjourn for Day
Day Two: Wednesday, October 19, 2011
8-8:30am Continental Breakfast
8:30-9:15am Report back from Breakouts
9:15-11:00am Session IV: Institutional and Professional Society Initiatives
In this panel session, speakers will provide information about their activities regarding educational priorities for climate, society, and technology. The general discussion will encourage audience members to identify the work other organizations have been doing that addresses these issues and associated opportunities for networking.
- William Kelly, American Society for Engineering Education (Moderator)
- William Wepfer, ABET (pdf)
- Dick Wright, American Society of Civil Engineers, Founder Societies’ Carbon Management Project (pdf)
- David Lapp, Engineers Canada/Ingénieurs Canada
11-11:10am Break
11:10 – 1pm: Corporate Perspectives on Engineering and Education on Climate, Engineered Systems, and Society
The premise here is that engineers should be trained to prepare for addressing issues of climate change. Businesses that employ engineers are well equipped to provide insights into their thinking about these issues in the context of the demands they face and the technological and organizational challenges they see ahead. The panel will focus on what employers of engineers perceive as the underlying principles, skills, and experiences that will prepare future engineers to effectively meet the challenges of climate change in the practice of engineering. The session will consist of two parts. Each of the participants will make a brief introduction, followed by a facilitated discussion.
- Kristina Hill, PhD Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at University of Virginia (Facilitator)
- Keith Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Navy Research and Engineering Division, SAIC (pdf)
- Jonathan T. Malay, Director Civil Space & Environment Programs, Lockheed Martin (pdf)
- John Carberry P.E., Independent Consultant (DuPont retired)
- William Flanagan, PhD, GE Global Research (pdf)
- Laurens van der Tak, P.E., D.WRE, Water Resources & Ecosystem Management, CH2M HILL
1 – 2 pm Lunch and Roundtable on Outreach and Dissemination – A brainstorming session on how to work with different electronic dissemination outlets to promote project goals.
Panelists include:
- Josh Bishoff and Megan O. Hayes, Ethics CORE (pdf)
- Frank Niepold, NOAA (pdf)
- Tamara Ledley, TERC – Cleanet.org
- Simil Raghavan, Onlineethics.org
Questions to address:
What are the goals of these sites? How might they connect with one another, what audiences will each reach, what additional audiences might we need to reach, etc?
2 – 3pm: Breakouts
Second day breakouts will consider the following (reporting back to a plenary):
- Academia & Professional Societes (pdf)
- Informal Science Education (ISE) and Public Engagement (pdf)
- Outreach and Dissemination (pdf)
- Corporate engagement (pdf)
- Undergraduate Education (pdf)
- Public Policy (pdf)
(Some breakout groups may consider several topics in the course of discussion. Organizers reserve right to rearrange these sessions based on expressions of interest and program changes.)
3 – 3:45pm Reports from Breakouts
3:45 – 4pm: Break
4pm Closing Session – Next Steps
5pm Adjourn