The Teacher In-Service Program in South America

1. The Teacher In-Service Program in South America September 2008 Cordoba Argentina Moshe Kam IEEE Educational Activities

2. A Few Words about IEEE • IEEE is the largest professional engineering association in the world • 367,000 members in 150 countries • A 501(c)3 organization in incorporated in New York • Originally concentrating on power engineering and communications IEEE at present spans technical interests across the spectrum of technology • From nanotechnology to oceanic engineering • In many respects IEEE has become “the steward of Engineering”

3. In 1884 the Franklin Institute organized the International Electrical Exhibition in Philadelphia The Operator, 15 April 1884 “The…exhibition would be attended by foreign electrical savants, engineers, and manufacturers...it would be a lasting disgrace to American electricians if no American electrical national society was in existence to receive them with the honors due them from their co-laborers in the United States." Thomas Edison, Elihu Thomson, Edwin Houston, and Edward Weston AIEE’s First Technical Meeting 7-8 October 1884, the Franklin Institute It all starts in Philadelphia… AIEE

4. Early Presidents Alexander G. Bell Elihu Thomson Charles Steinmetz Frank Sprague

5. A few more recent Presidents Leah Jamieson Joseph Bordogna Michael Lightner Wallace Read

6. Established 1884 An American Organization Representing the establishment Rooted in Power Engineering First computers working group Now the Computer Society Established 1908 An international Organization Open to students, young professionals Quick to adopt advances in radar, radio, TV, electronics, computers Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers (January 1913) AIEE IRE 1963: Merger of AIEE and IRE to create IEEE

7. What is IEEE? • A membership organization • A major creator and guardian of technical IP • A mechanism to bring people of common technical interests together • both geographically and disciplinarily • A guardian of the future of Engineering • An implementer of technology-related public Imperatives

8. What is IEEE? • A membership organization • A major creator and guardian of technical IP • A mechanism to bring people of common technical interests together • both geographically and disciplinarily • A guardian of the future of Engineering • An implementer of technology-related public Imperatives

9. What does IEEE do? • Publishes literature in engineering, technology and computing • Organizes conferences • Develops standards • Gets engineers and technologists from different locales together • Organizes professional activities among engineering students • Educates the public about Engineering

10. What does IEEE do? • Publishes literature in engineering, technology and computing • Organizes conferences • Develops standards • Gets engineers and technologists from different locales together • Organizes professional activities among engineering students • Educates the public about Engineering

11. 1963 1973 1983 1993 2007 Total IEEE Membership1963 - 2007

12. IEEE Higher Grade Membership1963 - 2007 Excludes Graduate Student Member (GSM) grade

13. IEEE Student Membership1963 - 2007 Above data includes Students and GSMs

14. IEEE Membership By Region31 December 2007 R7 – 15,947 R10 67,157 R1 to 6 – 212,838 R1 – 37,973 R2 – 32,363 R3 – 30,782 R4 – 23,555 R5 – 29,020 R6 – 59,145 R8 – 64,976 R9 – 15,410 Reflecting the global nature of IEEE, R8 and R10 are now the two largest IEEE Regions

15. Why is IEEE interested in pre-university engineering education • Because it is in our stated and un-stated mission • Because in many IEEE Sections there is marked decline in the interest of young people in Engineering • This is bad for the future of these communities and would have a negative impact on their standard of living • Because we do not believe the problem is going to be tackled effectively without us • Industry does not appear to be able to address the problem directly • Governments do not appear sufficiently concerned (yet) • Other engineering associations look up to us

16. What is the Problem? • Flat or declining engineering enrollments in most developed nations • Coupled with disappointing performance of youth in Mathematics • E.g., “free fall” in Scandinavia • Insufficient number of engineers and engineering educational programs in most developing countries • Asia is far behind Europe and the US in number of engineers per capita

17. What is the Problem? • Women & minority students conspicuously under-represented • Public perception of engineers/ engineering/ technology is largely misinformed • Resulting in early decisions that block the path of children to Engineering

18. Percentage of Science Degrees Awarded Science degrees include life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, computer sciences, engineering, manufacturing, and building Source: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development

19. World Development Indicators 2002

20. BS Degrees Awarded (US) Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

21. Comments on Pre-university and Engineering Education in Argentina The view from Piscataway

22. EDUCATION AND SKILLS IN ARGENTINA Assessing Argentina’s Stock of Human Capital Lauritz Holm-Nielsen & Thomas Nikolaj Hansen March 2003 The World Bank Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office, LCSHD ===============================================

23. The Beginning… • The first courses in engineering began in the University of Buenos Aires (founded in 1821) in 1865 • First degree granted in 1870 • Professors were mostly of Italian origin • from the universities of Milano, Parma and Torino • The university followed closely a Napoleonic model • Engineering education in Argentina in general had followed the continental European format • Sometimes even after the format was changed in Europe

24. Evolution and Growth • By 1900 there were three main universities in Argentina • Buenos Aires, Cordoba and La Plata • All had engineering degrees with studies of five years and no intermediate degree • Over the years significant debate and high level of activity and controversy were observed with respect to • Autonomy of universities • Governance of universities • Entrance requirements • Numerical quotas • Legal basis for operation of universities • Most recently the national law Nº 24521 –Ley de Educación Superior

25. Current Size of the System • At present Argentina has 38 national universities, 6 federal institutes and 1 province university, all sustained by state funding • There are 41 private universities and 12 private institutes • 67 of the 98 institutions grant engineering degrees

26. Degrees in Engineering • National universities 287 • National institutes 14 • Private universities 83 • Private institutes 7 • Total of 391 degrees • in 1947 there were 10 • In 1982 there were 106 • Some degrees require a thesis

27. Students of Engineering • Number of students of Engineering in Argentina approximately 60,000 • Many take more time to graduate when compared to other countries • even after taking into account 5-year planned duration • The graduation from a university is a gateway to practice • No separate system of licensing • Accreditation is in the hands of a governmental body (CONEAU)

28. World Development Indicators 2002

29. Persistence of Early Models • Argentina had not undergone some of the reforms in education that were observed in other countries • Two-cycle curricula in many other systems • One cycle in some Latin American countries is isolated • The possible transition to a two-cycle scheme is under debate • Reasons for persistence of early models • 1980s: effort focused on reconstruction of the universities • 1990s: reduced interest in engineering education due to economic policies

30. Criticism of the educational system in Argentina (World Bank Report 2003) • Curriculum at all levels is too heavily focused on rote learning and repetition • Quality of instruction needs improvement • In the university system, decreasing costs per student (coincident with the emergence of mass universities) and the absence of systematic quality assessments are part of the current difficulties

31. Public expenditure on education in Argentina (percent of GDP) World Development Indicators 2002

32. Primary teachers’ annual salaries in public institutions (US$PPP 1998) OECD, 2000

35. PISA Argentina’s performance • Argentine students outperformed the average of students from other Latin American (LAC) countries in reading, math and science and were closest to Mexico than others • In comparison to other participating countries, Argentina outperformed only three countries: Indonesia, Macedonia and Albania.

36. PISA Argentina’s overall performance • Reading: 37th out of 43 countries • Reading: 2nd among 5 Latin American countries • In the order of Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Peru • Math: 36th out of 41 and 1st in LAC countries • in the order of Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Peru • Science: 38th out of 41 and 3rd in LAC countries • in the order of Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru

37. Language and Mathematics Skills, 3º EGB IDECE, 2000 • Significant regional variations • Significant differences between public and private institutions

38. Language and Mathematics Skills, 9º EGB

40. UNESCO 1998

41. Other issues of interest • The future of the 5-year engineering degree • Especially in light of the Bologna process and the impact of the Washington Accord • The role of universities in research • Considered suboptimal at present • “Argentina suffers from an oversupply of researchers, seeing that the private sector demand for R&D personnel is negligible” • The qualifications of university professors • Fraction of holders of doctoral degrees

42. Other issues of interest • Communication skills of students • Oral and in writing • The quality of laboratories and hands-on experience • Collaboration with industry • Brain Drain from Argentina and attempts to bring academics back home (e.g., R@ices)

43. World Bank Review (2003) • The fundamentals of the Argentine education system are strong: educational attainment is high and comparable to many emerging economies • Argentina’s education system has succeeded in creating a stock of human capital • by and large, meets the needs of the economy.

44. The education system has not succeeded in creating human resources, which enable Argentina to develop into a knowledge based economy • The economy continues to be dominated by low-tech, knowledge extensive industries, which consider the current stock of human capital as largely sufficient • A large part of Argentine researchers are unable to find employment. In other words, there is no strong demand for analytical skills, flexibility and the ability to solve problems independently

45. The chief flaws of the Argentine education are in he areas of quality and relevance • Student achievement in the basic education system stagnated and dropout rates in secondary education are excessively high • Quality in the tertiary education system continues to be a challenge • and several surveys indicate that the relevance of university education in Argentina is lacking

47. Sources • Alberto E. Dams, Carlos A. Godfrid , Carlos A. Raffo (School of Engineering, University of Buenos Aires): Will the five-year engineering degree survive in Argentina? (2007) • http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/interes/constitucion/atribuciones.php • Francisco Garcés (Universidad Nacional de San Juan): LA ENSEÑANZA DE INGENIERÍA EN LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA • Lauritz Holm-Nielsen & Thomas Nikolaj Hansen (The World Bank Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office): EDUCATION AND SKILLS IN ARGENTINA - Assessing Argentina’s Stock of Human Capital (2003) • Mike Ceasar (2007): Argentina Tries to Lure Academics Back Home, Chronicle of Higher Education, 27 April 2007

48. Pre-university activities in IEEE

49. IEEE’s Pre-University Initiative • 2005-2006 New Initiative • “Launching Our Children’s Path to Engineering” • Objectives • Increase the propensity of young people worldwide to select Engineering as a career path • Build a sustained public awareness program, led by IEEE, with broad support of corporations and professional associations

50. Objective 1: Engineering in the pre-university classroom • Institutionalization of IEEE Teacher In Service Program • IEEE Section engineers develop and present technology-oriented projects to local pre-university educators • Emphasis on volunteer-teacher interaction as opposed to volunteer-student interaction • Ideally: a sustained program involving several thousand schools every year