Messaging for Engineering From Research to Action (2013) / Chapter Skim
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3 Call to Action
3 Call to Action
Pages 49-64
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From page 49... ...
In this chapter we lay out an action plan describing basic steps that all segments of the engineering community can take to help change the conversation about engineering. We also describe specific steps for individual segments of the engineering community -- companies 49
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Engineering schools may find they have a more diverse pool of well-informed applicants to their educational offerings. Engineering professional societies may see an uptick in membership, particularly among younger engineers who want to be associated with an organization that promotes itself as "making a world of difference." And museums and science centers could anticipate larger crowds for their exhibits that highlight the creative problem solving practiced by engineers.
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From page 51... ...
In addition to these actions, we recommend that the engineering community's efforts to use the CTC messages, taglines, and positioning be based on a view of the engineering profession as a whole rather than specific engineering disciplines. Messaging tuned to individual disciplines may be useful in certain situations, however, and co randing by b combining general and more discipline-specific messaging is certainly possible.
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From page 52... ...
As much as p ossible, measures of impact should include not only "inputs," such as the number of visits to a website, but also "outputs" that reflect changes in attitudes or behavior -- for example, students' views of e ngineering -- as a result of exposure to the CTC messaging. SECTOR-SPECIFIC ACTIONS In the effort to get people thinking and talking about engineering in new ways, one of the strengths of the engineering community is the variety of its components -- industry, government, professional societies, engineering schools, science and technology centers, and the NAE -- each of which typically uses different approaches and targets different groups in their outreach efforts.
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From page 53... ...
The committee recommends that industry take the following additional actions to help change the conversation about engineering: • In the next few years, a main goal for industry should be a sig nificant increase in the number of companies whose corporate identity, recruiting efforts, product advertising, and outreach to the public feature engineers and engineering and use mes
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From page 54... ...
• Companies that have the resources should consider investing in public service announcements that project a positive image of engineering consistent with the CTC messaging. Such efforts could be tied to television programming that connects to engi neering in some way, such as Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering and MythBusters, the Science Channel's Strip the City, and PBS's Design Squad.
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From page 55... ...
The committee recommends that federal agencies take the following additional actions to help change the conversation about engineering: • Education and outreach programs, such as NASA's Summer of Innovation, should incorporate the CTC messages, as should all similar STEM-related government programs that sup port hands-on experiments and engineering design activities for schools, libraries, scout troops, civic centers, and other organizations. • Whenever possible, government agencies should collaborate with other segments of the engineering community to advance the goal of changing the conversation -- for example, by work ing with industry partners in outreach programs or regularly participating on the CTC website.
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From page 56... ...
The committee recommends that engineering professional soci eties take the following additional actions to help change the conversation about engineering: • To provide motivation and vision for working together to improve public understanding of engineering, the societies should develop and endorse an intersociety "memorandum of understanding" to guide their coordinated use of the CTC messages. • Whether or not they are part of a memorandum of under standing with other engineering professional groups, societies should educate their members about the messages and how to use them.
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From page 57... ...
r • The committee recommends that ASEE leverage its special connection to engineering educators to broaden their aware ness and use of the CTC messages. Specific steps might include creating a recurring session at its annual conference and at the yearly Engineering Deans Council Public Policy Colloquium to review and encourage discussion of efforts to improve engineering messaging in engineering education programs around the country.
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From page 58... ...
The committee recommends that engineering schools take the following actions to help change the conversation about engineering: • Explain the CTC messaging approach to faculty and staff, describing its rationale and the evidence for its usefulness. This might include new-faculty orientation workshops or other training sessions that lay out explicitly how to use the CTC messages and taglines to shape how students and potential students think about engineering.
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Museums such as the Museum of Science in Boston, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and the Tech Museum in San Jose, California, have developed exhibits and other outreach programs that address engineering issues, but as far as the committee is aware, few if any of these initiatives specifically incorporate the CTC messages. The committee recommends that science and technology centers take the following actions as part of their contribution to changing the conversation about engineering: • Insofar as possible, when designing new exhibits or revising existing ones, incorporate the CTC messages.
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From page 60... ...
The committee recommends that the NAE take the following additional actions as part of its contribution to changing the conversation about engineering: • Continue to spread ideas from the CTC project and to pro mote communication and actions that support public under standing of engineering. This report is the most recent such effort.
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From page 61... ...
The standards are expected to include learning goals related to engineering design. • The committee recommends that developers of K–12 engi neering curriculum materials consider using the CTC or similar messages in their materials, promotional efforts, and related teacher professional development.
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Although the committee does not specifically endorse the idea of a broad national advertisement campaign, comparable to "Got Milk" or similar efforts, such an initiative, with sufficient resources, the right message(s) , and strong leadership, would surely be more effective than multiple efforts promulgating inconsistent messages.
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From page 63... ...
. NAE and NRC (National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council)
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