ASME Supports State-Led Next Generation Science Standards Initiative

ASME Supports State-Led Next Generation Science Standards Initiative ASME Supports State-Led Next Generation Science Standards Initiative ASME Supports State-Led Next Generation Science Standards InitiativeASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb recently sent a letter expressing ASMEs support for the next generation science standards (NGSS) to the state-led Next Generation Science Standards Writing Committee that developed them. The ASME Board on Education has been actively engaged throughout the NGSS process, serving as a key stakeholder and providing comments on two public drafts and one confidential draft of the standards. The new standards fruchtmark the first time that engineering has been included in science standards for K-12 curricula in a significant way. For the past two years, the 41-member writing team led by 26 states and their broad-based teams have worked together with partners to create the standards, which identify science and engineering practices and content that all K-12 students should master in order to be fully prepared for college, careers and citizenship, according to the team.In her letter, Kotb writes, ASME is very supportive in general of the efforts taken to both define engineering design and to integrate engineering practices throughout K-12 science learning in the NGSS. The meaningful integration of engineering practices in the NGSS will promote critical thinking, provide new levels of relevancy to motivate students to learn science content, make engineering and engineering careers mora accessible to all students, and prepare the next generation to solve global problems facing humanity. Kotb continues by saying, The authors have defined engineering well, and their elaboration to break it down into three phases of solving problems (A. Defining and delimiting engineering problems, B. Designing solutions to engineering problems, and C. Optimizing the design solution) is promising. However, the reality that now should be addressed is t hat the systematic process of performing engineering design is unfamiliar to the vast majority of teachers. ASME looks forward to working with state stakeholders and the engineering community to be a resource to fully implement engineering concepts in the NGSS. To review the full text of the letter, please visit https//www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/advocacy-government-relations/policy-publications/position-statements. Additional information about the NGSS can be found at nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards. Melissa Carl, ASME Government Relations