As the demand for science and engineering based jobs continues to rise, so does the demand for classes that teach these subjects to children. Project Lead the Way, a national organization that sets curriculum for engineering and medical based classes, is making its way into schools across the nation. Introduced last year to us has been Biotechnical Engineering, taught by science teacher Mr. Lee Johnson.
“Parkway West added the class last year with success, so this past summer I went to the University of Illinois and learned the whole year in about two weeks,” Johnson said.
Johnson did this because in order to teach the class, you must be PTLW certified. Their website declares that they design activity-, project-, problem-based experiences to prepare students to solve problems, which is senior Nick Bible’s experience with the class.
“There’s a lot of experiments we do,” Bible said. “They overlap with my AP biology class.”
Johnson has noticed that some of the curriculum overlaps with not only the AP biology class but the honors class as well. One struggle that his class has found has been to differentiate the education.
“We take a different perspective on [things that overlap],” Johnson said. “We focus on the engineering market and how to sell something. It’s cool if you can alter genes but it doesn’t matter if no one is buying it.”
Many students, such as seniors Katie Rembold and Fred Henry, enjoy the various labs. Rembold says that the various labs are what drew her into the class.
An issue the class has faced this year is some outdated curriculum. The PLTW backing means that they must follow the nationally set curriculum, which was last updated in 2006. This means that some references, websites, and statistics are either no longer available or are not the most accurate. However, the curriculum is being rewritten in 2015.
“It’s getting rewritten in two years and I’m very excited,” Johnson said. “There should be more of an emphasis on international problems like water purification in third world countries.”
Johnson’s predictions of a shift of focus may be correct, as the PLTW website says the new name for the class as of 2015 will be just Biological Engineering. Henry, on the other hand, hopes that there is still a strong incorporation of engineering.
“I wish it was a more rigorous curriculum, like more lecturing,” Henry said. “But I hope we keep the topics like business and bioethics.”
Rembold and Bible agree that such topics discussed in class set it apart from the average science class. Other students feel differently. Senior Sami Sbei believe that the labs are a great part of the education and wishes there would be increased emphasis on that instead of theoretical things.
“I wish it would be more based on what you’re doing, what you’re holding in your hands right in front of you,” Sbei said.
Aside from the nationally set curriculum, this class stands out because of its classroom dynamic. Johnson says that it is a fun dynamic because of the range of students. There aren’t intense prerequisites for the class like other science classes, so there are a wider range of students.
“I have no interest in going into engineering as a career,” Rembold said. “But it sounded like an interesting class when I was signing up and also was very different from anything PCH offered.”