Promoting Engineering Careers Using Modern Sensors in High School Science Labs

A student’s first introduction to engineering and technology is typically through high school science. Unfortunately, science labs often make use of antiquated tools that fail to deliver exciting lab content. As a result, many students are turned off by science, fail to excel on standardized science exams, and do not consider engineering as a career.

This paper reports on the preliminary results of Project RAISE, Revitalizing Achievement by using Instrumentation in Science Education. RAISE is a partnership between Polytechnic University and several New York City (NYC) high schools that is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). By using sensors and computerized data acquisition in science labs, RAISE seeks to enhance students’ academic achievement; excite them about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); and inspire them to pursue STEM careers. A description of the project, along with some of the sensor-based experiments that are in use, are presented along with lessons learned.