This exploratory project will investigate the utility of social networking as a learning environment to motivate and improve the performance of high school students, especially Hispanic students, and college students in the areas of math, science, and engineering. The Learning Enabled Social Network (LESN), a joint project between the University of Connecticut?s Schools of Engineering and Education, seeks to discover how these inherently motivating environments can be adapted to enhance motivation and interest in engineering education and how to harness the power of project-based learning and social networking to enhance learning and promote the science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines. LESN is based on a strong theoretical framework of communities of practice to engage students in authentic problem solving activities. The structure of the technology allows vertical integration from elementary school to professional engineering as well as horizontal participation across various cultures and disciplines. The tool?s student-centered design seeks to facilitate student-centered learning and transform faculty teaching. Collaboration between the University of Connecticut and Windham high school will seek to identify features of the online social network that lend themselves to improved engineering problem solving. This project will also advance the understanding and skills of participating engineering faculty and administrators as related to innovative pedagogy as a result of working with the project.
Engineering education must be transformed if it is to meet the needs of the 21st century. Academic performance and motivation must be addressed at the K-12 level if we are going to improve recruitment and expand the diversity of incoming engineering enrollment. Critical thinking skills to solve real-world problems must also be improved if our graduates are to be capable of working in multi-disciplined and multi-cultured communities, which are increasingly becoming common forums for engineering work. Social networking can effectively boost academic performance and eventually lead to improved recruitment and retention in science and engineering disciplines.
