Since 1975, over 1000 students have graduated in Technology/Pre-Engineering Education or integrative-STEM Education. The lineage of the curriculum of the current Department of Technological Studies (School of Engineering) can be traced back to the late 1800’s when the United States was making its transition from an agrarian to an industrial society. Nationally, by 1900, two distinct strands of industrial education were being shaped. One was a vocational strand designed to prepare students with identified job skills, such as carpenter or printer, while the other was a general education strand, which was intended to prepare students with a liberal education to better understand the “human designed world.” This latter philosophy leading to technological literacy has been the underpinning of the Department’s K-12 programs for over one hundred years. (An Executive Summary and Full Department History are available on the Department Website)
Most graduates studied in Armstrong Hall, which was designed under the leadership of Dr. Worthington, Department Chair in the early 1960’s. The new state-of-the-art building included classrooms, administrative offices, planning and research, an amateur radio station (WTSR) and an instructional materials center was planned. New laboratory space was designed for drafting, design, electricity/electronics, general industrial arts, graphic arts, metalworking, power mechanics, and woodworking. On May 11, 1963, the cornerstone was laid for the new Fred O. Armstrong Hall named in honor of the founding chairperson of the program. Enrollment set new records at 440 students.
Dr. Weber led the department from 1985 to 1988 during the transition to Technology Education. Five faculty members, John Hutchinson (convener), Keith Finkral, John Karsnitz, Stanford Ruggles, and Robert Weber met weekly to plan the new “design based curriculum” and share reports of national and international developments in the field. The project resulted in a detailed proposal for a revised curriculum with new courses to be implemented over a multiple year sequence as well as a proposal to change the name of the department to “Technology Education” and the establishment of an “Annual Technology Education Professional Conference”.
Working with Dr. Keith Finkral, the Technology Education Society (TES) was formed in the early 1990’s and became affiliated with the national Technology Education Collegiate Association (TECA). Professors Finkral and Weber, serving as co-advisors, began taking students to the national and regional conferences to participate in student design challenges. Award plaques date back to 1993.
Dr. John Karsnitz led the Department from 1988 to 2013, earning the distinction of being the longest standing chair with twenty-four years of service. With the design of a new technology based curriculum in 1985, the faculty began to establish themselves in the New Liberal Arts (NLA) movement on campus and in the region leading to the establishment of a new campus-wide general education required course titled “Society, Ethics and Technology.” In 1992 the Department was renamed Department of Technological Studies by the TSC Board of Trustees.
Believing that the State’s teachers, which were largely trained in the industrial arts philosophy, would need professional development to make the transition to technology education, the faculty began hosting a Professional Conference in the fall of 1986. Conferences were held annually from 1986-2010. In 1993, the faculty created a Distinguished Alumni Awardto be given to a graduate of the program who had distinguished themselves through innovative teaching and service to the profession. A plaque with each of their pictures is on display in the Department office.
At the request of the Department, TIES Magazine (Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship for Students), an avant-garde publication in the field, received support from Dr. Claire Hardgrove, VP for Academic Affairs, to move its publication office from Drexel University to Armstrong Hall and to be affiliated with the Department in 1993. Dr. Ron Todd, Publisher, and Dr. Patricia Hutchinson, Editor-in-Chief, headed a team that moved into new office space created in AR101-103. In addition to publishing a magazine, Dr. Todd began receiving major grants to support the development of curriculum. “Project UPDATE” (1993), funded at $1 million from National Science Foundation was the first of numerous multi-million dollar grants. Soon to follow were Project UPDATE-TEI (NSF $1.2), “Children Designing and Engineering™ (NSF $1.2), and “Exploring Designing and Engineering™ (NJ $2.5).” In 1996 the college name changed to The College of New Jersey.
In 2000, the Center received a grant to run the NJ State Technology Student Association (TSA). In 2011 the Center received a 3-year $300,000 grant to create a professional development model using the ITEEA EbD™ integrative-STEM curriculum materials.
The TIES Magazine group functioned as an informal Center in the Department until 2008 at which time it was formally recognized by Interim Provost Dr. Beth Paul and renamed theTCNJ Center for Excellence in STEM Education. Dr. Sharon Sherman directed the Center until 2009. In 2010, at the request of Dean Steve Schreiner, Dr. Steve O’Brien was named Center Director by Interim Provost Susan Bakewell-Sachs.
One of the most significant developments in the department history was the proposal to create a new integrative-STEM based major. After receiving approval by the College-wide Curriculum Committee (CUPPS, May 14, 1997) a proposal for the new Mathematics/Science/ Technology (M/S/T) major was approved by the Academic Affairs Committee of the TCNJ Board of Trustees on February 26, 1998 (BOT Program Announcement, June 25, 1998). Following the on-campus approval process, the proposal for the new Bachelor of Science degree was approved by the New Jersey President’s Council on November 12, 1998. Research on the new major by Dr. Steve O’Brien supported a belief that the M/S/T major as designed at TCNJ could serve as a national model for a STEM learning environment in the K-5(8) school nationally, especially if the certifying State requires or allows a disciplinary major as part of the teacher education program. The M/S/T Program was renamed Integrative – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (i-STEM Education) in the Fall 2013.
In the fall 2004, Dr. Karsnitz convened a “Pre-Engineering Advisory Board” comprised of nationally recognized experts including individuals with expertise in engineering education, technology education (K-16), state departments of education, and business. The group addressed two essential questions: “What engineering principles are appropriate for K-12 education?” and “What should teachers know and be able to do to teach pre-engineering
principles?”
The new Technology/Pre-Engineering Education (T/PrEE) curriculum reflected the need to strengthen student’s engineering content knowledge. Calculus A, ETE131/Engineering Math, PHY201/General Physics I and a General Science elective were added to strengthen M/S content while courses in the existing Technology Education major were modified to add more engineering content in mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering principles. To teach the new pre-engineering content, the Department began searches for faculty with an engineering degree and experience in education. In 2006, Dr. Steve O’Brien joined the faculty holding a baccalaureate degree in Math/Physics and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell. Dr. O’Brien was named Director of the TCNJ Center for Excellence in STEM Education in 2010 and was elected Chair of the Department following Dr. Karsnitz ’s retirement in 2013. In 2008, Dr. Matthew Cathell joined the faculty with his baccalaureate in chemistry and biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University.
The Department received the prestigious Mildred Dahne Award (2011) and cash prize for distinguishing itself in the areas of excellence in teaching, innovation and creativity, and department impact.
For nearly thirty years, the “team” consisted of faculty members Drs. Finkral, Hutchinson, Karsnitz, Ruggles, Weber and for many of those years, Mrs. Judy Smedley, Department Secretary and loyal graduates serving as Adjunct Faculty members promoted innovation in studies associated with technological literacy. When TIES joined the department in 1993, the team was expanded to include Drs. Todd and P. Hutchinson and soon to follow Retired Air Force Colonel Ken Maskell as an associate editor. During this period of time, the Department was well recognized campus-wide for its collegiality and its productivity.
During his thirty-five year tenure at TCNJ, Dr. Karsnitz served as the college-wide elected faculty representative to the Board of Trustees (2001-2005) and member of the Faculty Senate Executive Board from 2001-2011. He led the effort to establish a new Campus Governance system, which received national recognition for its shared governance principles by the American Association of University Professors in 2006. He was one of the faculty members involved in developing the TCNJ Collegebound program in the mid-1980s and coordinated the Department’s involvement until 1998. He worked with NJTEEA to promote Technological Literacy through the establishment of Core Content Standards and served on the Science Framework Standards group preparing the technology chapter.
Under Dr. Karsnitz’s leadership, the highly successful i-STEM major was established in 1998 (originally called M/S/T). The Technology Education major was redesigned to include a pre-engineering component in 2005 (Technology/Pre-Engineering Education) and became affiliated with PLTW. Dr. Karsnitz created the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) – Secondary Education Technology Education program in 2008 for individuals with a degree in a design field who desire to teach. From 2000 to 2012 M/S/T, T/PrEE and MAT majors grew to ~200 students. Traditionally graduates from the MAT and T/PrEE majors become technology teachers, but i-STEM students with the Technology Specialization can also qualify for the Technology Education teacher endorsement. The program currently graduates approximately 40-to-60 graduates per year qualified to teach STEM/Technology Education.
Dr. Karsnitz and his wife have established the John and Suzanne Karsnitz Scholarship Endowment Fund at TCNJ. The fund will award a $1000 scholarship each year to a junior T/PrEE major who has demonstrated the values Dr. and Mrs. Karsnitz held during their teaching careers: a commitment to teaching, leadership, creativity, and scholarship. Dr. Karsnitz also worked with Dean Schreiner to establish the Technological Studies Alumni Scholarship Endowment Fund using funds donated by alumni and friends to the Department. The Technological Studies Alumni Scholarship fund will also provide a $1000 scholarship to a junior Technology/Pre-Engineering Education or i-STEM who demonstrates a commitment to teaching, leadership, creativity and scholarship.
Dr. Steve O’Brien was elected chair in 2012 and has begun his vision of leading the Department to a position of national leadership in i-STEM education.
Likely due to his suberb teaching abilities, Dr. Matthew Cathell was invited by the Student Government Association to make the “Faculty Address” at the 2013 Graduation Ceremony. Dr. Cathell was the first faculty member from the School of Engineering to be invited to address the graduates. Dr. Manual Figueroa, Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Drexel University, joined the faculty in 2013.