Statement of the Problem

							 Recruiting Middle and High School Engineering/Technology Education Teachers

      Paper Presented to the Association for Career and Technical Education
                     Conference Held in Las Vegas, Nevada

                                  Kara Sue Harris, Ed.D.
                                   Assistant Professor
                                    Purdue University

                                    December 15, 2007



 Technology is increasing at an exponential rate; however, the number of highly

qualified engineering/technology education teachers is not, and a lack of

engineering/technology education teachers in the United States creates a problem that

spans full-circle. With few high school students choosing to enter into the

engineering/technology education teaching profession, it lowers the number of teacher

education students at the college/university level. When numbers continue to plummet

at the college/university level it, often, leads to the closure of technology teacher

education programs due to lack of teachers. When these programs close, it not only

eliminates any future teachers from entering into the profession, but it also eliminates

professional development and graduate studies for existing technology education

teachers. This problem, if not addressed, will have a profound effect on

engineering/technology education at all levels. According to Volk (1993) “With the

continued decline in technology educators being prepared and changing emphasis on

program options, the very survival of the profession is at stake.” (p. 55)

   Based upon past research (Gray & Daugherty, 2004; Daugherty, 1998; Daugherty &

Boser, 1993; Litowitz, 1998, Weston, 1997; Volk, 1993) teacher education programs

have been on a downward spiral for decades—and traditional modes of recruitment


                                                                                           1
have not been effective. Traditional modes of recruitment have typically consisted of

brochures, posters, face to face interactions, or nothing at all. (Gray & Daugherty, 2005)

However, data from a recent research project indicates that more effective methods of

reaching students who could potentially enter into the profession exists—these findings

suggest that a common thread exists between pre-service technology teachers in

Indiana. Specifically, data indicates that high school courses focusing on

communication technologies were taken more frequently by pre-service teachers

attending Ball State, Indiana State, and Purdue Universities when compared to courses

manufacturing, bio-related, construction, transportation, and pre-engineering.




                                                                                          2
Brief Literature Review

   Studies indicate that enrollment in engineering/technology teacher education programs have been

on a downward spiral for decades (Gray & Daugherty, 2004; Daugherty, 1998; Daugherty & Boser,

1993; Litowitz, 1998, Weston, 1997; Volk, 1993). This decline has not only had a direct affect on the

number of highly qualified engineering/technology education teachers that are available to teach in

public schools, but has also affected enrollment in teacher education programs at

colleges/universities across the nation. This decline, if not properly addressed, could lead to the

demise of technology education programs at the secondary and post-secondary level. (Volk, 1993)

   Although studies indicate that a decline in engineering/ technology teacher education programs

across the nation exists, little recent research has been completed to help engineering/technology

education professionals identify specific procedures to help attract students to pre-service

engineering/technology education programs. Wright and Custer (1998) further stated that,

“Technology education professionals have spent a great deal of time and energy focused on defining

the mission of technology education and redefining the curriculum. However, the technology

education profession has made only limited efforts at recruiting students into technology education

teacher preparation programs.” (p. 58) This lack of effort and collaboration could be due to confusion

as to who’s responsibility it is to recruit these teachers. According to Starkweather, (1999)

       It is difficult to get everyone in our field to understand that the critical shortage of

       teachers is a problem for all of us. Classroom teachers often think that the problem is

       for universities and many university personnel are not willing to put forth the effort

       required to recruit a sufficient number of prospective teachers. There are many other

       perspectives on the issue. The bottom line is that recruitment of prospective technology

       education teachers is everyone’s problem. It is a problem that requires considerable

       attention by educators at all levels. The challenge will be to get enough qualified

       technology teachers in the workforce to continue to move the profession forward and

       thus avoid having programs either closed or staffed by unqualified teachers. (p.27)
                                                                                                        3
In addition, Gray & Daughtery (1998) emphasized that the recruitment problem could not be solved

with out collaboration from secondary teachers, post-secondary teachers, administrators, and

counselors. In an effort to involve multiple professionals in the recruitment process and increase the

amount of highly qualified teachers in the technology education classroom the researcher has based

this presentation upon preliminary research which is part of an on-going national research project that

focuses specifically on recruiting pre-service engineering/technology education teachers.

Research Project

   Data from this paper is based upon a research project conducted in the fall semester of 2007 at

Purdue University. After completing a literature review and speaking with multiple secondary

engineering/technology education teachers, pre-service engineering/technology education teachers,

university professors, and other professionals who work directly with technology education the

researcher created a survey instrument that examined different aspects of recruitment and retention

in the engineering/technology teacher education profession. The instrument was then validated by

university faculty and students, classroom teachers, and other professionals in technology education.

   The instrument was administered to all students currently attending Ball State University, Indiana

State University, and Purdue University and majoring in engineering/technology education (n=74).

The three universities were chosen based upon geographic location—all are located in Indiana and

because of the strong working relationship the universities share in promoting technology education

not only in Indiana but nationally. The survey covered basic demographic information such as, which

technology education courses and extra-curricular activities the students participated in during high

school. In addition, the survey instructed students to rate on a four-point scale which factors

influenced them to pursue degrees in technology education, and which factors encourage them to

remain in technology education. The four-point scale was divided into categories of absolutely no

influence, somewhat influenced, highly influenced and strongly influenced.

   The research revealed many points of interest in recruitment of engineering/technology education

teachers in Indiana. However two common items were outliers among the data. The two items that
                                                                                                         4
were most obvious were the frequency of technology education courses pre-service teachers

completed in high school and factors they considered to be influential in their decisions to become

technology education teachers. Of the 74 students who participated in the study, a total of 147

engineering/technology education courses were taken collectively among them. This means on

average that pre-service technology teachers are taking approximately two technology education

courses during their high school careers. Table 1 illustrates the frequency of courses pre-service

teachers took in high school. On average 41% of the technology education courses taken by pre-

service technology education teachers in high school were in communications technology, 17% of the

courses were in manufacturing and/or construction technology, 15% of technology education course

work was in pre-engineering, 11% were in transportation, and none in bio-related technologies.

Table 1

Indicates the frequency of technology education courses pre-service technology education teachers
participated in during high school. (N=175)
Course                                                                  Frequency
Communications                                                            60
Construction                                                              26
Pre-Engineering                                                           23
Manufacturing                                                             21
Transportation/Power and Energy                                           17
Bio-Related                                                               0
None                                                                      21



Factors that influenced students when choosing engineering/technology education as a college major

also had some commonalities that could directly relate to the scope of this project. Respondents

were asked to rate to what degree certain factors influenced their decisions to purse degrees in

technology education. Table 2 illustrates some of the factors that do and do not appear to influence

students a students decision to pursue a degree in technology education at the post-secondary level.

Of the 16 factors that were rated none of them were rated as a 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale. The top


                                                                                                       5
rated factors were high school or middle school teacher with a mean of 2.78, personal interests or

hobbies with a mean of 2.77, past experiences in technology education courses with a mean of 2.73,

parents or guardians with a mean of 2.13, and university faculty with a mean of 2.02.

   According to the data, many recruitment strategies that are commonly used such as mass media

and visits to high schools by university personnel (Gray & Daugherty, 2005) rated between the

categories of absolutely no influence and somewhat influenced students decisions with means from

1.27 to 1.40; however, according to the literature these methods seem to be the traditional methods

that are used by many universities. In addition the data also revealed that high school guidance

counselors influence students the least.

Table 2

Indicates which factors influenced students when choosing a college major. (N=74)

Factor                                                                    Mean Rating
High school or middle school teacher                                      2.78
Personal interests or hobbies                                             2.77
Past experiences in technology education courses                          2.73
Parents or guardians                                                      2.13
University faculty                                                        2.02
Information from student who was majoring in technology education         1.77
College friend                                                            1.60
Relatives who are not my parents or sibling                               1.55
University Engineering/Technology Teacher Education web site              1.52
Past experiences in technology education extra curricular activities      1.51
High school friend                                                        1.48
Athletic coach                                                            1.42
Brother or sister                                                         1.42
Mass media                                                                1.40
Visit to my high school from University                                   1.27
High school guidance counselor                                            1.22




                                                                                                      6
Closing

   It should be noted that data from this presentation was based upon preliminary data that was

collected specifically in Indiana. The researcher has also administered the research instrument

nation-wide and expects results of the nation-wide study to be available in March of 2008. To date 30

universities have replied to the nation-wide study.

                  Round Table Presentation/Participant Input and Conclusions




                                                                                                    7
                                             References

Daugherty, M. (1998). A recruitment crisis: Strategies for affecting change. The Technology
  Teacher, 57(7), 21-26.

Daugherty, M., & Boser, R. (1993). The recruitment imperative: Replacement of
  Displacement. The Technology Teacher, 52(7), 31-32.

Gray, M. & Daugherty, M. (2004). Factors that influence students to enroll in technology
   education programs. Journal of Technology Education, 19(2), 5-19.

Karnes, R. & Starkweather, K. (1999). Technology Education in Prospect: Perceptions,
      Change, and the Survival of the Profession. Journal of Technology Studies, 15(1) 27-28.

Litowitz, L. S. (1998). Technology education teacher demand and alternative route
    licensure. The Technology Teacher, 57(5), 23-28.

National Academy of Engineering. (2004). The engineer of 2020: Visions of
  engineering in the new century. The National Academies Press. (pp. 47-57).

Salinger, G. (2002). Foreword. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 39(3), 6-8.

Volk, K. S. (1993). Enrollment trends in industrial arts/technology education teacher education from
   1970-1990. Journal of Technology Education, 4(2), 46-59.

Weston, S. (1997).Teacher shortage-supply and demand. The Technology Teacher, 57(1), 6-9.

Wright, M & Custer, R. (1998). Why They Want to Teach: Factors Influencing Students to Become
  Technology Education Teachers. Journal of Technology Education,      10(1) 58-70.




                                                                                                       8