Technology and Engineering Education

(Department Description)

At Donegal, the Technology and Engineering Education Department serves students in grades 7 through 12.  The curriculum articulates from the junior high school to the senior high school.  All students in grades 7 and 8 take part in specialized courses called Design and Modeling and Automation and Robotics.  When students move to grade 9, they have the opportunity to select from courses like Woodworking,  Introduction to Technology Education and F1 in Schools.  They may also choose to begin an engineering education path by selecting one of the Pathway to Technology course offerings.  These include: Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Digital Electronics and Civil Engineering.  Each of these courses have been developed from curriculum materials derived from Project Lead the Way. 

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a hands-on, project-based engineering curriculum for high school and middle school students.  It provides students of all ages with opportunities to develop a greater understanding of scientific and mathematical principles through applications based activities and project work.  Each year we see a greater number of students taking part in our high school level courses because of the stress being placed on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, STEM, education and the ability of the Technology and Engineering Education department to show the relationship between the four areas of STEM. 

Global and local challenges surround us. To address these challenges and move forward, we need people who know problem-solving strategies, think critically and creatively, communicate and collaborate with others, and persevere when something does not work the first time. Through Technology and Engineering Education and Project Lead the Way we have been able to empower students with these skills – relevant to many careers or roles they take on in the future.

Whether designing and producing wooden benches in a Woodworking class or solving problems related to water filtration in developing nations in a Project Lead the Way course, students are empowered to make a difference in their classrooms, in their communities, and around the world.