Innovation Center: Preparing High School Students for the 21st Century Economy by Providing Resources and Opportunities to Create Genuine Projects with Industry Partners (work in progress)

摘要

We live in a technologically-driven society. Advancements in systems and tools that impact everyday life are increasing as STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines combine efforts to solve problems. The influx of students into many STEM disciplines in U.S. colleges is not following the pace of this growth. The National Academies' Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited (2010), says that despite an increasing population of minority students, we are not attaining a diverse population in STEM undergraduate programs. While the number of U.S. engineering degrees in the U.S. has risen recently, it has not approached the historic highs of the 1980's (National Academy of Engineering, 2011). Yet, for U.S. STEM students to remain sensitive to the needs of society, the demographics of students must become representative of the nation's population. This call is especially pronounced in the field of engineering.