One Engineer's Pet Project: An AP Course

Leigh Abts, Univ. of Maryland (Courtesy Of The University Of Ma - Courtesy Of The University Of Ma)

Leigh Abts knows high school students would love his profession, if they just had a chance to explore it.

That's why Abts, an engineer and research professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, has created a model Advanced Placement course in engineering and led an effort to implement it at high schools nationwide.

"Engineering gives kids a chance to tinker with the math and science they've learned over so many years," said Abts, 55, who has been lobbying for the new AP course for two years. "We want to capture the kids' imaginations. There's a whole group of students out there that you can engage. . . . Sometimes, kids don't understand the context of why they are learning math and science."

Abts and a tight circle of engineers, university faculty and high school teachers will know soon if their efforts have paid off. Next month, the College Board, which runs the AP program, will decide whether an engineering class will be added to the curriculum.

The culmination of Abts's work comes as the Prince George's County public school system moves forward with a plan to offer at least eight AP classes in every high school next school year. Superintendent John E. Deasy has emphasized the importance of adding AP classes, especially in schools that offer only two or three options. Some county high schools offer more than 20. To help schools prepare, the county has been offering workshops for teachers since March on how to conduct the AP courses.

Prince George's school board Chairman R. Owen Johnson Jr. said increasing AP offerings would remain a priority throughout the board's term, which ends in 2010.

"To enhance opportunities for [students] to be successful, this is something we must do," Johnson said.

Engineering could be introduced on the AP level through pre-AP classes, which would cater to students in eighth, ninth and 10th grades, Abts said.

"Pre-AP would be different because it could touch all kinds of students who don't consider themselves AP material," Abts said. "If they succeed at the pre-AP level, they'll know they can succeed at the AP level."

Engineering could be ideal for students who learn by doing rather than by listening, and Abts has worked to promote AP engineering across the country, said fellow enthusiast Buzz Bartlett, executive director of advancement at the University of Maryland's College of Education.

Abts has met with College Board officials, as well as college and university officials from across the country. Some college administrators said their institutions would not accept AP credit from an engineering course because students would then be able to skip critical introductory engineering classes.

Abts, who hopes pilot AP engineering classes will be up and running by the fall, said training math and science teachers on the basics of engineering would be the next step.