D. 204 moves toward engineering curriculum
Indian Prairie Unit District 204 is pushing forward with plans to be the first in DuPage County to offer an engineering curriculum with seven new courses at its high schools rolled out over the next three years.
Already, 184 students from sophomores to seniors are enrolled in the first course called engineering design offered next year at Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley high schools. District officials hope the course will give students a taste of what a career in engineering might be like.
“So many students say they are interested in engineering but they have no idea what that means,” said Joan Dollinger, District 204 curriculum director.
Students can build on that first class with two additional classes added to the curriculum in 2012 — digital electronics, and civil engineering and architecture.
Then in 2013, students will be able to take principles of engineering along with a capstone course called engineering design and development. In that course, students will pick a technical problem they want to solve and will work with a mentor.
Officials would like to see a similar capstone course added in the future that would allow students to explore a scientific problem or issue. For instance, students could study the effectiveness of acne medication.
Officials also are working on ways to attract more girls to the District 204 programs. A good way to do that is to connect girls with area college camps and programs that feature women engineers, Dollinger said.
To enroll in next fall’s debut course, students were asked to formally apply by writing an essay and submitting recommendations from teachers.
“We’re looking for students with a high aptitude for math and science and also students who have a problem-solving mindset and are interested in a hands-on course,” Dollinger said.
In the future, students aren’t expected to apply for the courses that will receive the 5.0 honors class grade point credit for an A grade.
The courses are part of a national program called Project Lead the Way and also part of District 204’s efforts to better prepare students for college and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The district calls it STEM education.
“We found we’re doing a nice job in things related to STEM and we have a number of kids involved in that,” said Matt Kirkpatrick, science department chairman at Metea and district STEM coordinator.
Schools already have about 33 different programs, clubs and events targeting STEM, but the district is lacking a unified program. To remedy that, district officials hope to offer the same programming at all three high schools and also to attract more students to participate in them.
“We want to take kids that are underrepresented in our STEM-like programs and get them involved,” Kirkpatrick said.
School officials want programs that inspire students to innovate, invent, design, problem solve, investigate, research and experiment.
Right now, efforts are mainly geared for high school students, but next year the district hopes to expand offerings to middle school students and later to elementary students.
“Separately, we wanted to cast a wider net and allow more students to take part in these activities,” Dollinger said.
Indian Prairie covers portions of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield.