Engineering Education

“Technology is the outcome of engineering” (The National Academies Press, 2004). As much as technology has allowed for increased communication and development across oceans, it has also been just as fundamental in excluding populations who do not have access or the means to navigate this invaluable medium. This exclusion has trickled into the education sector, at a significant cost to the development of society.

Despite the pressing need for workers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, due to a lack of a homogenous STEM curriculum throughout the world and unanimous political support, equal access to quality education has proven to be a more difficult problem than originally perceived: a problem that has involved engineers at the front and center of the education sector’s global efforts.

Artificial intelligence is a key first step in solving this problem. STEM, unfortunately, still largely excludes socioeconomic and gender minorities, making it all the more important to include those opinions and factors into the design of such AI. Additionally, the needs of learners with disabilities are just as important because of their unique learning abilities that are often not accounted for in schools. All these factors considered, it is a great first step to utilize AI to create a virtual teaching assistant that can specifically cater to special learning needs and various demographics because that will, in turn, benefit the entire population. For example, while Alexander Graham Bell originally designed the telephone to help his deaf students, it is an invention that completely revolutionized communication methods and unlocked a whole new world of technological possibilities (Stanford Engineering Staff, 2021).

Yet, this isn’t a problem just for engineers. When discussing the most effective approach to building these virtual assistants, the insights of education psychologists and school administrators are just as important to understand how to best implement this technology in schools. However, there are also areas where minorities are not best reflected through partnerships with schools, or where the issue of accessibility versus affordability comes into the picture. It is in these situations that local grassroots support must be established to address the needs of various enclaves of a community. Once people see their local organizations and names supporting these global efforts, in addition to monetary resources, communities will be more open to such endeavors. Grassroots cooperation also relates to the irrefutable connection between policy reform and technology - a connection that can further contribute to the spread of technology in low-income areas, as already developed through Title I funds and efforts by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Education to incentivize technology classes. Individual governments should consider investing more heavily in such reforms and technology, considering the impact a larger, empowered global workforce can have on not only a national scale but also internationally.

However, this proposal comes with a potential setback: it would be extremely difficult to create high-tech robots and supply them in schools throughout the world. Considering the huge database and efficiency required of the invention, it would require very large teams to create each individual robot, which would not be logical at all. A plausible workaround would be to have a designated team to program a software that would be able to encode the robot itself, allowing more engineers to redirect their focus to the application of the device in schools and communities instead as well as manufacture more virtual assistants for public use. Additionally, the hesitance and fear regarding involvement in education for some populations, especially in STEM education for minorities, must also be addressed through this virtual teaching assistant by offering targeted exercises and mentoring.

Developing an accessible virtual teaching assistant through artificial intelligence is the first key step to equity in STEM and education, helping to build a strong, literate workforce that will continue to inspire and uplift others for centuries to come.

Bibliography

Koenig, R. (2020, July 24). Why education is a 'wicked problem' for learning engineers to solve - edsurge news. EdSurge. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-04-02-why-education-is-a-wicked-problem-for-learning-engineers-to-solve

National Academies Press. (2004). 1 - Technological Context of Engineering Practice. In The Engineer of 2020 Visions of Engineering in the New Century (pp. 7–7). Essay.

Stanford Engineering Staff. (2021). How to engineer for inclusion. Stanford University School of Engineering. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/how-engineer-inclusion