Career and Technical Education's (CTE) role in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) describes how Career and Technical Education (CTE) helps meet the critical need of developing a skilled, professional STEM workforce to secure America's economic future. CTE courses and programs strengthen students' understanding of STEM content and attract students to STEM careers. Virginia Beach City Public Schools' STEM programs offered through the Technical and Career Education (TCE) programs, are becoming increasingly evident. Many TCE programs allow students to explore interests in STEM-related careers through a variety of avenues, including career advising, mentoring, job shadowing, internships and career and technical student organizations.
TCE programs often integrate high-level academics and technology into the curriculum. These programs offer students a deeper understanding of STEM career pathways, facilitate student transitions between secondary and postsecondary education and careers and help encourage more students from under-represented populations to enter STEM fields.
TCE programs can expand our students' horizons as it helps them learn about different STEM-related career options through hands-on training and the application of core content knowledge. The relevance of TCE and the use of applied-learning strategies help keep students engaged in STEM programs, thus increasing the number of students interested in this critical area. This is evident by the fact that seven of the 19 Virginia Beach City Public Schools students participating in a 2011 Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program are TCE students. Examples of the many TCE related STEM projects were compiled for the Hampton Roads STEM Council and are available for review.
In November 2011, a white paper regarding the integration of STEM into the curriculum and co-curricular activities was authored by a committee of teachers, principals, and staff from the school division's Department of Curriculum and Instruction. The white paper provides the division definition of STEM, a description of the impetus for including these concepts as part of the educational program for all students, and highlights of the work currently taking place with regard to STEM education in the division. In addition, next steps in building a robust K-12 program are outlined.
TCE STEM Projects
STEM Robotics Competition
On June 1, 2012, K-12 students from 21 Virginia Beach elementary, middle, and high schools will participate in Level I and Level II Robotics competition. Under the direction of Kevin Pace, electronics instructor at the Technical and Career Education center, the competition will take place for the first time at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. A presentation made to the TCE General Advisory Council highlights program aspects.
TCE and VBCPS Receives $223,000 STEM Grant
On September 21, 2011, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) received official notice that the school division was awarded an Opportunity Inc. STEM Grant to serve Workforce Investment Act (WIA) eligible junior and senior students. The grant will provide several STEM related activities:
- After-school STEM Robotics student training (50 Juniors/Seniors) which includes:
- Student stipends
- Site-teacher stipends for Robotics Club sponsors
- Robotics contest to be held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, June 1, 2012
- After-school STEM 101 Norfolk State University three-credit college course (110 Juniors/Seniors), Second Semester, 2012 which includes:
- Teacher mentor stipends for an online course
- Course tuition
In addition, Junior Achievement of Greater Hampton Roads will provide Virginia Beach City Public Schools' Workforce Investment Act eligible students the chance to participate in a one-day conference featuring top national and local STEM experts. Junior Achievement STEM Job Shadow will provide experiences that are as unique as every student who participates. The job shadow program demonstrates how education and learning experiences can be translated now into a rewarding and financially secure STEM future.
Submergible Remotely Operated Vehicle (SROV) "Five Minutes to Win it"
Students in the ATC Marine Engineering, Engineering Technology and Modeling and Simulation classes are learning how to design and build a functioning Submergible Remotely Operated Vehicles (SROV) using physics, engineering and design principles. This project based activity developed students problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. Students are exploring concepts of air pressure, water pressure, buoyancy and more as they learn about the harsh environments in deep oceans. Students have received structured lessons from teachers and a National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Education Specialist outlining the science, engineering and design aspects of SROV's. Students are learning about the environmental usage of ROV's and careers related to their design, construction and usage using Internet resources. At the conclusion of the design/build phase of the project student teams competed in the "Five Minutes to Win It" competition to determine the which SROV design was the most successful at mastering the competition objectives.
ATC Students Rocket STEM to New Heights
For the past several years, Advanced Technology Center (ATC) students have actively participated in the Engineering Technology Rocket Team. After qualifying among the top 100 teams in April 2011, the ATC Engineering Technology Rocket Team competed on May 14, 2011, in the national finals of the world's largest rocket contest -- Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC).
The TARC provides middle and high school students across the country with the opportunity to design and build a rocket that will climb to 750 feet and stay aloft for between 40 and 45 seconds, using a 15-inch diameter parachute for a recovery device. Teams must also transport a payload of one egg in their rocket and return it unbroken. Students compete for $60,000 in prizes and scholarships, and a chance to attend the international Air Show in Paris, France. Virginia Beach City Public Schools is proud of the ATC team that placed 34th in the nation out of over 600 teams.
The ATC team credits their accomplishments due to their weekly after-school meetings since mid-October 2010 where team members had the opportunity to plan, research, design, and test series of rockets. The Virginia Beach Beacon, reported on this story is its May 9, 2011, publication.
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME)
All students enrolled in the school division's Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs work in independent teams to develop a small ship design according to shipyard specifications. Students are given a list of guidelines which spell out, in detail, all requirements necessary to start their design process. These guidelines are used to produce a scaled ship design that incorporates actual propulsion equipment. Each team uses standard Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) software to produce their design.
Designs are critiqued by a panel of judges (seasoned members of the maritime industry) as to how well of a design they have developed. The judges examine everything from proper drafting/design practices to actual practicable and replicability concepts. Selected ship designs are actually built by Newport News Shipyard Apprentices and the top designs must demonstrate maneuverability specifications. A final winner is determined such as the Advanced Technology Center's CAD program winning entry "Sink OAR SWIM".
Virginia Beach Robotics Competition (VBRC)
The Virginia Beach Robotics Competition (VBRC), supported by the High School Electronics programs, the Technical and Career Education Center, and the Advanced Technology Center, is open to all middle and high school students who have an interest in robotics.
Since 2008, the school division's electronics teachers have gathered to develop a challenge for two levels of competition. The Level 1 competition is geared toward the introductory student and requires some experience with computer programming and a desire to be a "problem solver". The level 2 competition provides a significantly higher challenge where all the parts and design are student generated. No pre-made or pre-fabricated parts can be used at this level.
With the complexity of this competition growing over the last three years, the student skill level has expanded as well. In addition to returning students participating in the competition, students from other local school divisions are also invited to participate. Within the last few years, students have had the opportunity to get a first-hand look at the robots being developed for use in various branches of the military. On one occasion, developers of these robots brought their products to the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) for an exhibition. The exhibition was a great experience for the students and advisors as they were shown the very latest in robot technology. Exposure to the latest robot technology was of particular importance to the development of the Virginia Beach Robotics Competition (VBRC). Since its inception, a wireless system of control for the school division's VBRC was necessary. Standard game controllers such as the Play Station 2 were the choice of contest developer Kevin Pace. Pace is a trade and industrial instructor at the Technical and Career Education Center. This idea combined "fun" with electronics and engineering, combining the technology students were already using with their games and transferring this technology to the robots being developed. This concept gained a higher relevance when some of the major robotics companies that were showing off their developments were using the very same type of game controllers. "iRobot" and "Talon" robots demonstrated models that used a wireless game type controller to operate their product.Cable Car Race
Advanced Technology Center (ATC) instructor Ron Garrison's engineering technology students placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in Tidewater Community College's Engineering Club Cable Car Race in April 2011. The award-winning cable car was designed using Autodesk Inventor and produced components using the rapid prototyping machine, constructed, and then tested their cable car. The cable car traveled along a cable suspended 100 feet along the second floor of the ATC's atrium, with a 13 foot drop and rise in the cable.
Cisco NetRiders Skills Competition
The Cisco Networking Academy is a global technology education program that provides students with networking and technical skills to prepare them for careers in the 21st century. During the 2011 CiscoŽ Networking AcademyŽ NetRiders Skills Challenge, an interactive contest designed by the Cisco Networking Academy to give technical education students the opportunity to showcase their IT and networking skills, the Advanced Technology Center's entry won first place. More than 1500 students, representing nearly 150 academies from across the United States and Canada, competed in this challenge consisting of three rounds culminating with a final, virtual event on May 6, 2011.
NetRiders Skills Competition
- NetRiders utilizes Cisco's Web 2.0 technologies to create an interactive experience, enhance classroom learning, and motivate young people to further pursue technology education and training.
- Over 10,000 students across more than 80 countries have competed in regional NetRiders competitions over the last several months.
- The U.S. and Canada NetRiders Finale competition involved 38 teams of two (2) Networking Academy students competing in a variety of activities, including a timed theoretical exam, a Cisco Packet Tracer network simulation activity and exam.
NASA Future of Flight "Contest"
In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright began what has become a ubiquitous form of transportation for developed nations all over the world. More than one hundred years later, their small open cabin wooden plane has been transformed into designs with capabilities no one could have predicted. And little could the Wright's imagine what space ships have developed over the past 60 years. What is next? Can you imagine what space ships, rockets, or aircraft will look like one hundred years from now? Where will they go and who or what will they carry? Jules Verne imagined men on the moon almost one hundred years before it became reality. What do you imagine for the future of flight, either in space or in Earth's atmosphere? The video on the left is the modeling simulation entry submitted by the Advanced Technology Center.