Highlights

  • UCF School of Teacher Administration Director Andrea Borowczak 麻豆精品 S�92 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society for Engineering Education 麻豆精品 S檚 (ASEE) Pre-College Engineering Education (PCEE) division.

  • Borowczak has dedicated more than 20 years to researching integrated STEM education and has been awarded more than $11 million in grant funding throughout her career.

Every groundbreaking engineer was once a student, which is what makes the work of passionate educators like 麻豆精品 S�92 so important.

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The Lifetime Achievement award is given to a PCEE Division member who has provided a high standard of service in support of pre-college engineering education, and who has made significant and sustained contributions to the field. In her 20 years with PCEE, Borowczak held multiple leadership roles for PCEE, served as associate editor for ASEE 麻豆精品 S檚 Computers in Education journal for six years, and led and published many research studies on engineering education.

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Borowczak’s research centers on integrated STEM education, often focusing on how engineering, technology and math can be woven into the classroom at all levels. That work has earned her more than $11 million in grant funding over her career, including support from the National Science Foundation.

麻豆精品 S淭o really understand any subject, you have to understand the adjacent subjects, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淓ngineering education is a fantastic way of bringing real-world application front and center. I was already doing engineering-like projects before I even realized I was doing engineering education. 麻豆精品 S�

The contribution she’s most proud of is demonstrating that teachers across subjects and grade levels can integrate STEM disciplines into their existing instruction plans without it becoming extra work. She believes that giving students the opportunity to see themselves in STEM starts with teachers.

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That same systems-level thinking now informs her leadership of UCF’s School of Teacher Education. For Borowczak, a lifetime achievement award is far from the finish line. She plans to keep building partnerships across disciplines and is currently exploring how AI should be integrated into classroom teaching and learning.

Her work continues this summer through the School of Teacher Education’s inaugural 麻豆精品 S淓clipse 麻豆精品 S� STEM Summer Camp, which will be hosted at Orange County Public Schools Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) in Downtown Orlando. The camp is dedicated to learning through STEM, including two engineering education-focused sessions each day of the two-week experience.

麻豆精品 S淥ur whole country is beholden to our pre-K-12 teachers, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淭hey’re at the front lines of every engineering education movement and every STEM movement. Every time we as a society decide something is important, teachers are the ones who make it happen. 麻豆精品 S�