As national STEM initiatives focus on engineering design as a STEM integrator, a more important concern for K-12 educators should be teaching design fundamentals and using these experiences to help students obtain STEM content knowledge. There appears however, to be little instruction and emphasis on building students' design-sketching skills in…

Modeling is one of the scientific practices featured in the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") (Achieve Inc. 2013). This practice is central to the work of science because modeling activities can prompt new questions for investigation, which, in turn, can lead to evidence and information that can be incorporated into…

As a chemistry teacher, Rosemary Davidson has found "infographics" (information graphics) successfully engage her students in science--not only in carrying out the research for classroom projects but also in presenting the results of their research to their peers. This article will help teachers integrate student-created infographics…

Students sometimes find introductory drafting and design a boring subject. They must learn the basic skills necessary for drafting and architecture and this may require repetition in order to reinforce those skills. One way to keep students interested is to have them draw objects they encounter in their own lives instead of abstract machine parts…

Many educators believe that solid modeling software has made teaching two- and three-dimensional visualization skills obsolete. They claim that the visual tools built into the solid modeling software serve as a replacement for the CAD operator's personal visualization skills. They also claim that because solid modeling software can produce…

Creating poster portfolios can increase the quality of work that students put into planning projects. This article describes an activity developed by the author that involves the use of poster portfolio projects. The activity helps students produce better-organized, higher quality work, and allows them to enjoy the opportunity it gives them for…

This article provides practical guidance for science teachers to help students who love both science and writing, and are struggling to find a career that will allow them to combine these disparate talents and interests. It includes descriptions of career paths, suggestions for exploratory steps, and links to sources of additional information. The…

This drafting criterion-referenced test item bank is keyed to the drafting competency profile developed by industry and education professionals in Missouri. The 12 references used for drafting the test items are listed. Test items are arranged under these categories: drafting room procedures; tools and equipment; basic drawing skills; geometric…

Drafters must be detail-oriented people. The objects they draw are interpreted and then built with the extreme precision required by today's manufacturers. Now that computer-aided drafting (CAD) has taken over the drafting profession, anything less than exact precision is unacceptable. In her drafting classes, the author expects her students to…

This Missouri Vocational Instruction Management System instructor's drafting guide has been keyed to the drafting competency profile developed by state industry and education professionals. The guide contains a cross-reference table of instructional materials. Ten units cover drafting fundamentals: (1) introduction to drafting; (2) general safety;…

This guide, which is one of the curriculum guides in the "Exploration Curriculum Development Initiative" (Exploration) series intended to assist junior high and middle school industrial educators in helping their students explore diverse industrial situations and technologies used in industry, deals with using the language of industry. The…

Discusses the work of Isaac Edwards Clarke, an influential nineteenth-century U.S. education official. Reports that Clarke encouraged instruction in drawing as an important industrial skill. Indicates that, although interest in industrial drawing as an important aspect of art education waned by 1900, Clarke's influence continued to be felt. (SG)

These eight units of instruction are the products of a project conducted at Burlington County College in Pemberton, New Jersey, to develop three-dimensional computer graphics units of instruction for use in courses designed to train students in the areas of architectural, civil, drafting and design, and electronics technology. Addressed in the…

This computer-aided drafting (CAD) curriculum was developed to provide drafting instructors in Illinois with a useful guide for relating an important new technological advance to the vocational classroom. The competency-based learning activity guides are written to be used with any CAD system being used at the secondary and postsecondary levels.…

This task list is intended for use in planning and/or evaluating a competency-based course in drafting. The tasks required to perform the duties of seven types of drafters (i.e., general, architectural, electronic, civil, structural, mechanical, and process pipe drafters) and technical illustrators are outlined. The following are among the duties…