<p>My son is a junior in high school and is looking for an introductory engineering class to take online. His hope is to find something that will help him determine if he wants to go into engineering (he has wanted to be an engineer since he was little, but really has had very little exposure to the field) and also learn about the different areas. He is a 4.0 student and very computer savvy. I know some colleges would allow him to take a class from them, but we’re not concerned about college credit - just the academic exposure. I know the ideal scenario would be to attend an engineering summer camp, but he’ll be in Germany on a school trip this summer, so that won’t work. Any ideas?</p>
<p>I’m not aware of any school that would do this. Getting a spot in an engineering program is already very competitive. I can’t really imagine many, if any, schools will be willing to enroll a random high school student in any engineering classes. You may get lucky and find something, but I’d honestly be surprised. Odds are he’d be lost anyway without the required calculus and calculus-based physics background. Has he taken either of those courses yet?</p>
<p>Check out Brown. I may be wrong about this, but I thought they started offering an MOOC last summer that was a sort of survey engineering course. I thought it was designed by the undergrads to be taken by HS students.</p>
<p>In general, check other MOOC offerings. My younger son took an Intro to Programming course from Harvard via edX last winter and spring. It was long…and the problem sets took hours to complete. (He ran out of time before the course ended but he was only in 8th grade.)</p>
<p>The MOOCs are mostly free and not for credit, so he may find something there. </p>
<p>Also, I don’t know where you are located, but some of the east coast colleges offer these “College for a Day” events called Splash. Today’s is at Yale, next Sat at Columbia, the following Sat & Sun at MIT. (MIT’s is large and registration has closed. They were not as flexible as Yale about course changes, but worth contacting them, if space is still available.) See Learning Unlimited for the full list but I have not checked that site in a while to see if the info is updated. There had been programs in Chicago & California but since we are on the east coast, I have not followed those. The east coast programs also offer a spring (March or April) session but I believe MIT’s will differ this year in that HS students attend in Nov and middle school students in spring.</p>
<p>Splash classes are taught by undergrads (and some grads) of the school. Students register for the classes they want, attend lectures or seminars, switch class, break for lunch, etc. It is an amazing way to explore an interest. Not deep as the program is only held for one day, but enough to see what a school is like and learn some new material. I find the Facebook pages of the organizations the best way to obtain current info, so search Splash at Yale, for example.</p>
<p>I know this is an odd request and this may not be the best website to ask this question, but I thought I’d throw it out there in case someone had information or had taken an online course themselves. I agree, Boneh3ad, he’s probably not prepared for a regular Engineering class, although he’s a math-wiz (his dad’s a math prof) and is in a college calculus class right now. CT1417, those are great ideas and I’ll follow up. I’m familiar with Brown’s MOOC and he’ll probably take that. It’s offered in January again and is two weeks long. We live in northern Minnesota by the Canadian border, so there are not many resources within driving distance, but I’ll check with the U of M to see what they might offer - I never thought of that. Our ideal would be a high school or college level intro course to the general field of engineering, maybe with a project or two attached to engage him.</p>
<p>I am currently enrolled in the U of Arizona’s introductory engineering course as a high school senior. High Schools in Arizona and some in California offer this course in collaboration with the U of A. There are programs out there, just hard to find and in select places. After almost a semester of this course, it basically is used to introduce all types of engineering. I’m having a lot of fun, hopefully you can find a program also!</p>
<p>Just returned from pick up at Splash at Yale and checked Learning Unlimited. Doesn’t look as though there is anything in your area. [Current</a> Programs :: When and Where?ABCDEF](<a href=“http://www.learningu.org/current-programs]Current”>When & Where? :: Current Programs)</p>
<p>I am on a quest to find something for my son to do this summer. He attended a one week computer camp last summer in addition to the four Saturdays at Yale, but I think he wants to pursue math. (I can’t even fathom math camp, but after years of encouraging summer club swimming, sailing & water polo, I have finally conceded that he is much happier being indoors.)</p>
<p>This would be much easier if we were in the Boston area as there are many programs for local HS students offered there. Best of luck in your search.</p>
<p>If there is a robotics club at his hs, he should consider joining it to learn more about engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks, Matt! I checked out the classes from U of A. Nice! You’re lucky to have that as an option! CT, I followed up on Learning Unlimited and you’re right … nothing in our area, but thanks! Unfortunately, we’re in a tiny high school. They used to be in a lego competition, but haven’t even done that in a few years! You can see why I’m looking for options!</p>
<p>I don’t have any online suggestions, unfortunately. When my son was in a similar position he was able to job shadow an engineer, arranged through the school and our local community college workforce development dept. Spending half a day with an engineer did play a role in DS narrowing in on a focus (physics, not engineering after all).</p>
<p>Also, 4H is trying to increase offerings in science and technology. Maybe there are some science based clubs in your region (although I know it is a long shot). We started a 4H robotics club here and have received amazing support through the county extension office. </p>
<p>Our high school offers Project Lead the Way classes in engineering which have been wonderful for my kids. I see some listed for northern part of your state.</p>
<p>[PLTW</a> | STEM Education Curriculum for Middle and High Schools](<a href=“http://www.pltw.org/]PLTW”>http://www.pltw.org/) </p>
<p>[PLTW</a> | School Locator](<a href=“http://www.pltw.org/getting-started/school_locator]PLTW”>http://www.pltw.org/getting-started/school_locator)</p>
<p>Thanks, Trillium! I’m following up on your links. I did find an online resource for high school courses through “K12”. Here’s the list of classes they offer, if anyone else is interested. [Online</a> High School Course List | K12](<a href=“http://www.k12.com/courses/high-school-courses/high-school-course-list#.UoDhxBD6_C8]Online”>http://www.k12.com/courses/high-school-courses/high-school-course-list#.UoDhxBD6_C8)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>