Building a STEM Education Ecosystem for Future DoD Engineers
Abstract
With the rapid advancement in technology, quantum phenomena, including entanglement, is being explored as a way to revolutionize the way we sense, communicate and do computing today. With the opportunity to do exciting inspirational research comes a social responsibility to explain what we know and how it is important to others outside our research community. The long-term benefits of inspiring K-12 students to take an interest in basic research are a crucial part of our job, and we are acutely aware that our work does not occur in a vacuum. The next generation of students needs to be engaged and inspired in order to learn widespread knowledge about quantum technologies and their applications. To inspire future generations for quantum technologies, we need to work closely with teachers who can teach these topics. For this, educational programs and learning materials need to be developed, and these materials should be evaluated in real classroom settings. Accordingly, one of our primary goal in this project is to work with high school STEM teachers to develop educational materials in order to introduce quantum technologies to high school students. The proposed methodology may provide pathways to new frontiers in the field of STEM education. The math-free and intuition-based pedagogy challenge the conventional wisdom in teaching quantum technologies with concepts often referred to as counter-intuitive. By integrating ENE’s expertise in STEM Education with ECE’s expertise on quantum technologies and applying them directly to real classroom settings allow us to be pioneers in the development of educational materials on quantum technologies for K-12 teachers and students. Moreover, university-level courses and degrees created as part of this program will help address the existing gap in workforce development in quantum areas. Courses are specifically designed for professionals and multidisciplinary engineers who will seek a technical role in quantum industry and DoD quantum-related activities. By developing educational materials as well as establishing project-based community activities, IQ-PARC aims to cultivate a culture around quantum technology and create an interface between quantum and non-quantum communities, which can have a profound impact on quantum education, technology, and outreach. Our project seeks to promote a STEM literate workforce by providing learning opportunities for diverse populations to understand basic principles and applications of quantum concepts through a variety of both face-to-face and online activities. We aim to create a broad, flourishing community of students, engineers, and scientists to collaborate in open-source learning activities in direct connection and collaboration with industry. We plan to 1) develop learning modules accessible to a wide range of students at different levels, with particular attention to high school students, undergraduates, and professionals, 2) establish a peer-to-peer learning community of students and teachers with a multidisciplinary background, 3) partner with leading quantum industries including Microsoft, IBM, Guided Particle Inc (GP), Entanglement Institute and National Quantum Centers to create hands-on learning experiences with the emerging quantum technologies, and 4) establish cross-disciplinary professional degrees to eventually close the gap between quantum technology and education to pave the way for workforce development in areas of high priority for DoD.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 10, 2021
- Source ID
- HQ00342110014
Entities
People
- Mahdi Hosseini
Organizations
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Purdue University
- Washington Headquarters Services