Professor Gary Ybarra at local elementary school.
The Pratt School of Engineering sponsors educational outreach
for students from K-12 through the undergraduate level with
local/regional involvement and national programs. At the
K-12th grade level, these programs are designed to create
positive, hands-on learning environments for students and
are designed to inspire kids to pursue careers in engineering
and science. At the college level, these programs offer
challenging research opportunities which allow undergraduates
from colleges and universities across the nation to spend
the summer researching at Pratt. These outreach programs
also offer an opportunity for Duke students interested in
participating in K-12 outreach and in engineering and science
education to gain hands-on mentoring and teaching experience
with local K-12th grade students.
These outreach efforts include programs aimed at helping
populations underrepresented in engineering and the sciences --
women, students with disabilities, and minority students --
build confidence that they can succeed and fulfill their
career dreams by providing role models and enriching educational
and research experiences.
Professor Lisa Huettel at Duke School Days
College programs involve students from colleges and universities
nationwide, providing aspiring undergraduate engineering
and science students with the opportunity to conduct intensive
research here at Pratt. Such research makes these students
highly competitive for jobs, internships, and graduate school
scholarships. A hallmark of these programs is long-term
follow-up, ensuring that a positive experience translates
into career impetus.
Educating Today's Engineers
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Opportunities for students from colleges and universities across the nation to research at Duke
Through National Science Foundation funding, leveraged with other funding sources, the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program offers challenging research opportunities to students nationwide to spend a summer researching at Pratt on the Duke University campus. This nine-week paid program offers research in all the departments of the Pratt School of Engineering—Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. The REU Program is under the direction of Martha Absher, Assistant Dean for Education and Outreach Programs. It has an emphasis on including populations underrepresented in engineering- women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities. All eligible students are encouraged to apply. The application and project descriptions for summer 2008 is available online.
Inspiring Tomorrow's Engineers.
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Opportunities at the K-12 grade level, and opportunities for Pratt undergraduates to participate in K-12 outreach
Interaction with Pratt female graduate students at the Duke Action Camp gives 6th- to 8th-grade girls from across the nation a chance to take part in laboratory engineering experiments and work with successful engineering female role models. The summer of 2003 represented Pratt’s 12th year of our involvement with this program.
Undergraduate Pratt engineering students spent 10 hours per week delivering hands-on lessons in mathematics as part of the MUSCLE program (Math Understanding through the Science of Life). Funded through the GE Fund for three years, the MUSCLE program is designed to increase the number of students who choose science related careers by helping them to improve their mathematical skills. This generous funding gift from the GE Fund allows Pratt School of Engineering to significantly increase our impact on and involvement with the K-8 population of the Durham public school system and to improve the mathematical skills of a large number of underrepresented minorities in the Durham community. Participating schools are Lakewood Elementary and Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham.
At the high school level, Pratt faculty and students work with 8th-to 10th-grade students from the Raleigh/Durham area through the
Summer Science Institute.
Teaching the Teachers
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Impacting science and engineering teaching and curriculum at the K-12th grade level
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Pratt and the Duke Center for Inquiry Based Learning led a TASC Force, as we call it, as part of a Teachers and Scientists Collaborating program. We are working to narrow achievement gaps, improve end-of-grade science and mathematics scores, and improve the quality of science teaching in four North Carolina school districts. We aim to establish a cadre of scientists from Duke, the Research Triangle and across North Carolina. These scientists will provide ongoing teacher assistance in Alamance/Burlington, Iredell/Statesville, Harnett and Orange Counties.
Duke has recently partnered with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to launch a national pre-engineering program designed to help students prepare for college engineering coursework and build excitement for careers in engineering called Project Lead the Way. PLTW is an established pre-engineering program that provides fully-developed curriculum for high school and middle school; extensive professional development curriculum for teachers; and school counselor professional development training and conferences.
