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Celebrating more manufacturing and applied science teachers

Michael DeWees, who has taught engineering for 11 years at St. Charles East High School, has been recognized as a Master Teacher for Principles of Engineering by the Project Lead the Way organization.

"PLTW is a national curriculum which provides teachers with a framework and then allows them the flexibility to change the experience based on the students' skills, knowledge, and ability," DeWees said.

"While teaching the PLTW curriculum, I really get to learn about the student and their wants and desires."

DeWees, 55, holds a master of science in technology education from Northern Illinois University and lives in Naperville with his wife Carrie, two teenage sons and two dogs. The Daily Herald caught up with DeWees to learn more about the teaching of engineering.

Q. What classes do you teach at St. Charles East, and what do you teach in those classes?

A. I teach the Project Lead the Way national curriculum for Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Civil Engineering and Architecture, and Engineering Design and Development.

These classes are problem-based classes. Students are presented with a real-world problem and then we develop skills as we move to solve that problem. Every challenge starts with skill building activities, then uses problems to reinforce those skills, and then finishes with a project which challenges student to apply those skills and others to come up with a solution.

I work with students to build their problem recognition and solving skills by giving them a framework to first identify and then determine if there is a solution to the problem.

Q. Give examples of the types of techniques or assignments that students will work on in your class.

A. Depending on the class, students might design a residence or business using professional software; they might create a robot and then program that robot to accomplish specific tasks; they might build a catapult, or an electric car, or intruder detector as they work with electronics, solar power generation, kinematics, machine control, fluid power, or simple machines.

Once they build, solve, or report, we ask questions about the project. Students learn that to be a successful solution or machine, it must be measurable, predictable, and repeatable.

Q. How did you become interested in teaching this subject?

A. I have always been interested in how things work and how can I make them work better. My first career started out as a programmer during a time when programmers were as much wizards as they were professionals.

I have seen the demand rise for talented STEM professionals, and I recognized that I could provide a framework to develop people who have these skills and interests

Q. How has teaching this subject changed over the years?

A. I think the biggest change has been the change of public opinion about the subject. When I first started PLTW at East, I had to overcome a lot of people thinking that it was just an advanced "shop" class.

Parents would come talk to me about how they would like for their student to take these classes but they didn't want them to work in a "dirty" manufacturing environment.

As the program has grown, students and parents are seeing the benefit of the classes on their future. These classes help to focus the student on their career interests; they give the student skills which are immediately transferable. I hear stories from my graduates about how they were better prepared for their math, science, and engineering classes than their non-PLTW peers because of these classes.

Q. What do you do in your spare time, and what's one thing your students might be surprised to learn about you?

A. I like to be outside whenever I can. I like mountains better than the beach. My wife, family, and friends are my world and keep me going. Students might be very surprised to know that I care about each and every one of them.

  St. Charles East High School engineering teacher Michael DeWees works with students Friday. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
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