Hearing Of The Subcommittee On Research And Science Education Of The House Committee On Science And Technology - Engineering In K-12 Education

Statement

Good morning and welcome to this Research and Science Education Subcommittee hearing on engineering in K-12 education.

Today we will explore the concept of pre-college engineering education. Even though I was trained as an engineer, this is something that's fairly new to me, simply because it was not formally around when I was in school.

We on the Committee are dedicated to improving STEM education in this country, and are always exploring new ideas that have the potential to have a positive impact on student learning and achievement in STEM fields. This year alone, we have held three hearings on K-12 STEM education, but those have focused primarily on science and math, and we have yet to examine the small but growing movement in K-12 engineering education.

Today we will hear from witnesses who are involved in engineering education in a variety of capacities. I look forward to hearing the witnesses explain the current models and initiatives for teaching engineering in the K-12 setting, to what extent these efforts have been successful in teaching engineering concepts, and perhaps most importantly, how they might be used to improve student learning in all STEM fields.

We are fortunate to have a new report on this subject from the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. I hope discussing this report will help us understand what questions remain unanswered and what research might needed to be conducted.

Finally, I am interested in learning more today about how pre-college engineering education might broaden the STEM pipeline by helping to make STEM learning tangible and exciting to students from all backgrounds.

I want to thank all of the witnesses for taking the time to appear before the Subcommittee this morning and I look forward to your testimony.

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