Creating new learning environment to foster enrollment in engineering programs

Abstract

A discovery adventure! This is the program that has been developed by the Education Research Team of COPEC – Science and Education Research Council – a K12 School program for a city, with the goal of providing better and effective knowledge for young students, especially those who do not think about to enter a University. The main goal is to encourage more bright young minds to pursue careers in engineering or technology, by providing K12 students, from public schools of a municipality, knowledge about science and research methodology in a way that it will remain as a life practice. It fits into the counties’ necessity to improve competitiveness in technology growth, which has implications in workforce development, as well as in science and technology development. The main characteristic of this project is the possibility to apply new and innovative approaches, which provide teenagers students the ability to develop concepts and theories to solve and understand scientific and nonscientific problems and, consequently, find solutions for those problems.