Project Lead the Way (PLTW) was a valuable component of my high school curriculum. Project Lead the Way brought academic rigor and a practical hands-on approach that gave me a solid foundation for my Civil Engineering major at Rowan University.
The most significant benefit of the PLTW courses was the multitude of experiences involving STEM principles that it provided. The practical information which I gained helped me to process problems more effectively and efficiently due to growth in my spatial awareness abilities. The use of 3D modeling software such as AutoDesk Inventor contributed greatly to my becoming more proficient in this area. I was able to apply this learning to other areas of my life, such as FIRST Robotics and Punkin
Chunkin. I became the prototype lead for our high school robotics club and participated in youth Punkin Chunkin competitions, designing and building Trebuchet, whipper and centripetal machines. Using PLTW information and processes, I contributed ideas before building began so as to minimize design flaws. For example, during my senior year it became a robotics rule that the robot had to be drawn out completely in AutoDesk Inventor before the build team could start working with metal. No one was in favor of this rule; we all wanted to start building as soon as possible since time was so limited. However, the many hours we spent on drawing paid off; we had few issues with the final product, we kept within our budget, and did not have a lot of wasted material – although we still ended up working late hours to get the robot finished by the deadline. Our robot did place third in one of the competitions we attended. The second greatest benefit of being a part of the PLTW program was the development of connections with future engineers. PLTW was a small, focused learning community in a high school composed of five sending districts. I had the opportunity to work closely with a variety of students I did not know. From this experience I gained collaborative skills and made new friends. I like to think that these working relationships will become valuable networks in the future. Another outcome of this diverse group work was that I could use prior experience to help determine my partner for the capstone project. We worked extremely well together; learning with and from each other and creating a product that was far beyond what either of us could have done independently. Although there were many benefits of being in PLTW courses, there were also drawbacks.The most prominent of these was that I did not have much experience working with fellow students who did not plan on majoring in engineering in college. Interaction with professionals from other backgrounds will be a critical skill for future engineers. Only two students in my Engineering Design and Development (EDD) class did not major in some form of engineering. My partner for the capstone project in EDD chose to major in physical therapy. Our product, a modified weight bench (see below pictures) which we built from scratch, improved the overall weight lifting experience by correcting form and helping prevent shoulder injuries while doing a variety of exercises, as well as other fitness benefits. By our work together, I gained insight into human anatomy and understood first hand how engineers need to work with those learned in other fields if they truly want to make improvements in people’s lives. To conclude, Project Lead the Way gave me an enormous amount of experience working with future engineers. However, because being an engineer requires work with those who are not in the same professions as yourself, the courses which I took did not prepare me very well for that inevitable future.
Conclusion Ultimately I did a much better job of implementing course material into my approach to leading the project team. Though no formal leadership role was established, I ended up becoming the “point-man.” Instead of viewing this reality as a burden (as I have been) I should make the most of the opportunity to better myself and potentially others. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, I need to make sure that I am meeting and exceeding the demands that the group places on itself and demonstrate that I am motivated.
Throughout the novel, The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders, authors James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner share with young student leaders the skills they have found for effective leadership. The authors wrote The Student Leadership Challenge hoping to strengthen the abilities and uplift the spirits of leaders by introducing the five principles: modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart (Kouzes and Posner 3).
Campus leadership comes in various forms in the educational settings. Each administrator brings special abilities, knowledge and traits into their experiences as an administrator. Campuses across the country vary in student population, economic factors and have various community cultural norms in place. The administrator on an educational campus faces foreseen challenges and also unpredictable obstacles. As a result campus leadership must be confident in decision-making, be effective communicators, willing to accept change in today’s educational climate of high-stakes accountability and build positive relationships with teachers and students.
Senior Project has been a long and stressful process but I have learned many things throughout the development of my project. I have realized the importance of hard work by doing the Senior Project. At the beginning I did not care if I was not able to turn in an assignment on time, but when my event did not go as I had planned, I realized that I needed to put more effort into my work. I was willing to work hard towards Senior Project but I was struggling with AP Chemistry so I gave chemistry more attention and then I fell behind on Senior Project. To be able to successfully complete Senior Project and graduate in June I put forth my best effort and was able to finish my research paper, product, and presentation on time. Along the way I also
The Path-Goal Leadership Questionnaire based on my behavior gave the following results: 23 for directive style which is considered common, 28 for supportive which also considered common, 28 for participative which is considered high, and a 19 for achievement which is also considered common. The information provided from these scores show which that participative leadership is my style most often used, while the other three are less used used.
As written in the book Student Leadership by Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, he outlines many ways on how a student should lead their peers. Lautzenheiser believes that a student leader shouldn’t be chosen for how talented, popular, or how well their academic standing is. Instead the student leader should be chosen for how well they interact with others and how they are considerate of their peers. Being dedicated is a quality that every leader should obtain, but being cooperative and giving are the two levels of maturity that a student should be at before receiving a leadership position.
Project leadership is essential in every organisation. Leaders help their clients achieve business results not by just managing projects, but instead, by leading them. The art of leadership with the science of project management is combined in order to achieve success.
...t I’m learning now by being in PLP is helping me prepare for these goals and life dreams. This is being achieved through the other students I not only live with, but also have class with, the volunteering opportunities, the classes, and the connections. One of my favorite quotes to live by is from William Arthur Ward and that is, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it,” and I feel like I am working towards just that at this point in my life.
Discuss a leadership experience you have had in any area of your life - school, work, athletics, family, church, community, etc. How and why did you become a leader in this area? How did this experience influence your goals?
College engineering programs are commonly known for their strenuous math and science course loads. To prepare students for these courses, many high schools have begun implementing pre-engineering programs into their curriculum (Rogers, pg. 1). For these programs to be of any value, they must provide students with the skills they need to be successful in college. The article, “The Effectiveness of Project Lead the Way Curricula in Developing Pre-engineering Competencies as Perceived by Indiana Teachers” by George Rodgers analyses the effectiveness of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) courses, which are a nationally used set of pre-engineering courses. In the article the PLTW curriculum is broken up into individual classes, those classes are then broken up into the college success skills they are meant to provide. Teachers were asked to rate their perceptions of the competency of their students in these skills. Among these skills were construct electronic circuits, design and prototype solutions. In a survey of University Wisconsin Platteville freshman engineering majors, students were asked to give their perceptions of how well they had developed certain college skills. The findings of a survey of University Wisconsin Platteville freshman engineering majors who participated in PLTW courses in high school
During my work experience at , I was fortunate enough to have experienced firsthand and learned, many different sides of what goes into a project, the general process of how a project is initially planned, developed and completed; as well as how much work and detail goes into every stage. Another valuable lesson I have learned during these 12 weeks, were the many different types of work an Engineer has to perform, which in turn, have provided me with more insight into the different types of roles and responsibilities that I could perform, as a Civil Engineer.
Project based learning, also known as PBL, is a teaching method that encourages students to take their education into their own hands. The definition I found for project based learning is, “ A teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for a n extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge” (What is project based learning (pbl)?, n.d.). It helps students communicate with each other and think critically about the world around them. Many schools has already tried to incorporate project based learning into their curriculum. This form of education is students based and the teachers responsibility is to guide the students. While researching, I learned many
In terms of Personal Development I feel that the course has helped me to develop the skills I need to improve my grades, and to build my confidence.
... projects. These projects have left me with a deep impression of how the real world situation is going to be like. Hence, I feel fortunate to have taken this module.
I learned about how to conduct academic research in a productive way. This program also taught me how to identify credible resources and use academic search engines that I wouldn’t have used prior to this class. Also the worksheets that were passed out to help organize our researched and conduct a wider range of research was extremely helpful and a tool that I will continue to use throughout college. Similar to other discourse classes peer view and discussion was a key factor to success. Peer review in this course helped a lot with my speeches and papers because it gave me opinions from other students and my professor that I wouldn’t necessarily have came up with myself. It also helped me generate a better argument through topic proposals and peer interactions that pushed me to dig a little deeper for better research on my community. I also believe that the speeches assigned in this course allowed for me to increase my public speaking skills and learn to communicate in certain types of discourse at appropriate