K-12 Engineering Education
We offer a wide range of hands-on engineering opportunities for K-12 teachers and students, faculty and the general public and help develop the next generation of innovative and ground-breaking engineers.
We focus on:
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Engaging students through design-based projects while deepening their understanding of fundamental concepts and interrelationships;
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Improving student learning through hands-on and project-based experiences that connect them to everyday STEM applications;
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Raising the level of technological literacy of all students through gaining practical skills and a deeper comprehension of our dynamic modern world;
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Introducing exciting career paths by opening students’ eyes to how our lives are enriched by the work of engineers.
Education and Outreach Programs
The Teach Engineering Digital Library is a searchable collection of standards-based engineering curricula for use by K-12 educators. Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, the enterprise is a collaboration among faculty and teachers from more than 50 U.S. higher education institutions who are passionate about K-12 engineering education. The online collection provides over 1,600 free STEM lesson plans, hands-on activities, and maker challenges, as well as ~100 engineering activity videos.
The COSTEM—COlorado Science, Technology, Engineering and Math—Mentorship Program is a new partnership between the ITL Program and the I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County. The program connects CU undergraduate engineering students with low-income middle school students in Boulder and Longmont for small group mentoring and tutoring in math and science and hands-on engineering extension activities.
Partner Programs
CU Teach is an innovative, nationally renowned secondary math and science teacher education program offered through a collaboration among the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
The ITL partners with CU's BOLD Center to engage underrepresented pre-college students from the surrounding community who are interested in attending CU Engineering.
In partnership with CU Teach Engineering , the ITL and Engineering Plus programs together host professional development workshops for K-12 teachers focused on teaching engineering design.
