Illustrating Engineering Education: A Children’s Book to Support STEM Outreach in Qatar

摘要

In recent years, increased attention has been placed on improving STEM curricula to promote lifelong learning to children at a young age. Integrating STEM topics in children’s literature is an effective way to convey knowledge as it combines creativity, motivation and inquisitiveness. Due to the lack of children’s literature on engineering in the Middle East region, stories that young children can relate to – in terms of their traditions, culture, and region – and at the same time introduces them to the field of engineering would be of great value to the educational system. With that in mind, a model program was initiated at Texas A&M University at Qatar where undergraduate engineering students worked on a yearlong project to create an illustrated storybook about how drinkable water is produced in a desert nation where fresh water is scarce using engineering. This paper discusses the process of how this project came to fruition.