Extending STEM Education to Engineering Programs at the Undergraduate College Level

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v8i3.8402

Keywords:

STEM education, Undergraduate engineering programs, Multidisciplinary research

Abstract


Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is gaining wide attention. STEM education assimilates rigorous disciplines and requires diverse skills. Effort to promote and integrate STEM education in schools has been significant during the recent years. This paper investigates promoting students interest in STEM beyond the K-12 levels outside the US. The investigation targets the American University of Kuwait, where the educational community in general, and the students in particular, are faced with different challenges. Comprehensive proposals are suggested to extend STEM education to be part of the Engineering programs at the undergraduate level, with focus on Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering. Remedies for overcoming the weak background in mathematics and sciences, for many students, are explored. In addition, parallel laboratory-based educational components are applied, for selected courses, to enhance the technological aspects via providing deep hands-on experience and exposure to real-life scenarios. Incorporating STEM education in courses/labs, academic activities, extracurricular activities, capstone design projects, internships, and satisfying accreditation requirements are addressed. A thorough discussion is presented to include analysis of best practices, evaluations, examples, and case studies from the local and regional institutions.

Author Biographies

Ashraf A. Zaher, American University of Kuwait

Ashraf A. Zaher is an Associate Professor of Computer Engineering at the AUK. Since 2016, he has been the Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department. He is a member of the ECE ABET Accreditation Steering Committee and the Chair of the ECE Academic and Curriculum Committee. He is the first super-visor of the STEM-4-ALL Students Technical Team. His research interests include virtual engineering, nonlinear dynamics, hybrid signal processing, engineering physics, and chaos. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of AACC and AIP.

Issam W Damaj, American University of Kuwait

Issam W. Damaj is an Associate Professor of Computer Engineering at the AUK. Since 2011, he has been the ABET Accreditation Steering Committee Chair and the Institutional Representative of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) De-partment. He was the Founding Chairperson of the ECE Department and Program Lead between 2009 and 2016. He is the Founding Counselor of the AUK IEEE Stu-dent Branch and its Technical Teams. He is the second supervisor of the STEM-4-ALL Students Technical Team. His research interests include hardware/software co-design, automation, Internet-of-things applications, and engineering education. He is a Program Evaluator (PEV) with ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a member of the ASEE.

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Published

2018-05-28

How to Cite

Zaher, A. A., & Damaj, I. W. (2018). Extending STEM Education to Engineering Programs at the Undergraduate College Level. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 8(3), pp. 4–16. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v8i3.8402

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Section

Papers