A Template For A Manufacturing Outreach Unit For Middle Schools

A template for an outreach activity to middle school students on manufacturing engineering is presented. The template includes three components: a filed trip to a manufacturing facility, an in class-presentation on the fundamentals of manufacturing, and a hands-on activity in manufacturing. A structure for the outreach program is proposed. Introduction Over the past three summers the authors have taught an introduction to mechanical engineering class to gifted middle school students as part of the two week Mathematics, Science, and Technology Program at Michigan State University. Two of the ten class periods have focused on manufacturing engineering. As this unit has evolved over the three summers, it has developed to the point that it could be used as a template for a college outreach program on manufacturing engineering for middle schools. Certainly the value of such engineering outreach programs is obvious based on the predicted future shortages of engineers, and the need to attract more and diverse people into engineering. It has been recognized that middle school outreach can be very effective in the recruitment of the next generation of engineers. This paper provides the template for such an activity. There are three components to this manufacturing outreach template. Each component can be implemented in a once a week, one or two hour experience for a middle school science or technology class. Thus the program could serve as a three week unit in manufacturing for the class. The first component involves a tour of a local manufacturing facility. It is the authors’ experience that manufacturing occurs in nearly all communities across the country and that most companies welcome the opportunity to show off their facilities to the public, and especially to school children. The second component involves a class presentation on the basics of manufacturing. Such topics as material processing, forming, fastening, finishing, and assembly lines are covered. Because the students will have seen several of these activities on their tour of the manufacturing facility, there will probably be considerable class participation during this presentation. Following this presentation, a hands on activity is carried out that includes the design and implementation of an assembly line for the simplified manufacturing of a bean bag animal toy. By doing this activity in teams, a friendly competition can be held to see which team designed the fastest assembly line. The activity concludes with a wrap-up in which the students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the assembly line designs. Details of these three components are provided in this paper, along with results of this activity with the Mathematics, Science, and Technology program. We continue this paper by suggesting some mechanisms for Page 722.1 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ” 2002, American Society for Engineering Education using these components as an outreach program, which will include staffing ideas and means to establish ties between colleges and middle schools. Proposed Outreach Structure In this section we propose an organizational structure for this outreach program. Each university has a different approach to outreach, so this proposed structure will need to be customized for the institution’s approach. Certainly, the most important component is that the university has a commitment to K-12 outreach. As with most service activities conducted by the university, the key to a successful program is the participation of a faculty champion that is motivated to direct the service activity. Since faculty members are always busy with their other obligations, teaching and research, it is strongly urged that the program utilizes a student group, such as an ASME student section, SWE section, or honorary (e.g., Tau Beta Pi) to participate in and lead many of the activities involved in the program. This participation is consistent with the service charge of most student organizations. It has also been the authors’ experience that college juniors and seniors relate especially well to middle school students, perhaps even better than most engineering faculty. With the student organization leading the tour, presentation, and hands-on activities, the faculty member is then able to put his/her efforts into developing the contacts with middle school classes, training the members of the student organization for their participation, organizing the manufacturing facility tour, and soliciting the small amount of funding required. The need to develop the three activities of the program, manufacturing facility tour, class presentation, and hands-on project, are, hopefully, thoroughly addressed in this paper. There are many different ways that contacts may be made with middle school classes. If the department already has an outreach program, then those high school or middle school teachers involved in the activity can serve as key contacts. Through these teachers an appropriate class, most probably a science or technology class, can be identified. If such an outreach program does not exist, then possible contacts through faculty or students in the department should be explored. Quite often department faculty will have children of middle school age or department students may be former students of some middle schools in the area. If none of these opportunities exist, we have found that contacting a middle school principal with no prior introduction has also been effective, as most middle schools welcome the opportunity to interact with the local college or university. The use of department students in the outreach activity must include a training program for these students. It will be useful for the student organization to have previously taken the manufacturing tour. Again, this is consistent with the expected activities of a student organization. Practice sessions for the presentation component need to be conducted. Most engineering students should be familiar with the technical aspect of the presentation. An expert in middle school education from the University’s education college or the middle school teachers involved in the program should attend these sessions to provide the students with criticism and feedback concerning their presentations. For engineering programs that have a strong communications component, only one of these practice sessions will probably be needed, but it most cases a second practice session should be held to allow the students to implement the suggestions made at their first presentation. During these practice sessions it is important to discuss the nature of the middle school student and some tricks of the trade in teaching middle school students. The hands-on assembly line activity should be done as a student organization P ge 722.2 Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ” 2002, American Society for Engineering Education activity. In this way the students, as participants, will learn the ins and outs of the activity, and be prepared to handle problems that arise during the activity with the middle school students. The costs for this outreach program are minimal, but with the current trends in educational funding it is important to outline these costs and suggest some possible funding sources. The principal cost for the manufacturing facility tour will deal with the transportation. It is possible that the cost of a bus to transport the class to the manufacturing facility will be covered by the school district. However, with the budget cutbacks in the public schools it may be necessary for the outreach program to provide these transportation costs. For the presentation component, the only real costs involve the audio/visual equipment needed. This equipment, computer and computer projector, should be available through the middle school or the university. The final costs for the outreach program deal with the hands-on assembly line component. These costs include the supplies (e.g, material and split peas) and tools (e.g., scissors, staplers). An estimated budget for the program is shown in Table 1. There are several possible sources for these required funds of approximately $400. Many universities provide internal grants for proposed outreach activities. It has been our experience that the effort to win such a grant is minimal and the success rate is fairly high. The parent/teacher organization for the partnering middle school may prove to be a good source of funding. Another excellent source of funding are the local sections of the professional engineering societies, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Finally, the national organizations for several of the student engineering societies provide funding for outreach programs. Two examples are the Tau Beta Pi Greater Interest in Government program and the ASME Diversity Action Grant program. The organizational structure suggested above is based solely on volunteer participation of the engineering faculty and engineering students. For nearly all situations this will probably be the only realistic way for such a program to function. However, in the unlikely event that funds are available, a very positive impact could be made by providing a small stipend ($50-$100) to the engineering students involved in the program. Similarly, a university commitment to this program might involve an adjustment in the teaching load of the involved faculty. Tour of Manufacturing Facility A very effective mechanism of introducing youngsters to manufacturing engineering is through a field trip to a local manufacturing facility. Nearly all locales, even those that are very rural, have manufacturing facilities in fairly close proximity.