Engineering Outcomes of Grades 10-12 Using Different Pre-Engineering Curriculums: A Case Study

The purpose of this study is to identify the important constructs and their key indicators that are to be included on an instrument developed to measure the engineering design process and outcome of students in high schools that use the Project Lead the Way and Engineering by Design curriculums. Several pre-engineering curriculums are used in high schools to prepare students for engineering programs at the college level. How well do these curriculums prepare students for college based engineering programs? What are the critical constructs of a pre-engineering curriculum? Emphasis is placed on Integrative Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in both high and post-secondary level programs. What implications does this have for the professional development of PTE teachers and college instructors in the development of curricula?;The following research questions guided the study:;1. How are the constructs identified by Childress and Rhodes (2008) ranked in terms of criticality for inclusion on an instrument to measure engineering design outcomes in high school in Idaho?;2. What are the key indicators associated with the constructs identified by Childress and Rhodes (2008) to measure engineering design outcome in high schools in Idaho?;3. Are there differences between constructs for design outcomes as identified in the Project Lead the Way and Engineering by Design content? A content analysis was conducted on the Project Lead the Way Curriculum used in grades 10-12 and the Engineering by Design curriculum for grades 10-12. Main constructs were established and the key indicators for each construct were included in a survey sent to an expert team consisting of High School educators, University educators, and Engineers in industry. The resulting data from the survey were analyzed.;INDEX WORDS: engineering education, engineering design process, content analysis.