If you’re teaching Engineering Design in a high school classroom, keeping your curriculum up to date to meet your standards is crucial to your success. After all, you’ll want to ensure your learners master today’s engineering design principles and best practices to set them up for successful careers.
Two curriculum providers you may have heard of are Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV. While both offer comprehensive engineering design courses, one or the other could be better for your classroom.
In this article, you'll learn about the differences between Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV for an engineering design course. Specifically, we'll look at the following:
- What Curriculum Options Do Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV Offer for Engineering Design?
- What Is the Instructional Focus of Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV?
- What Instructional Materials Are Included?
- Which Engineering Design Course is Right for You?
When you’ve finished reading, you'll have a full picture of the differences between Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV to choose the best resource for your engineering design class.
What Curriculum Options Do Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV Offer for Engineering Design?
While Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV offer extensive materials for teaching an engineering design class, their educational resources differ.
In this section, you’ll learn about the resources Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV offer and how they differ from each other.
What Does Goodheart-Willcox Offer for Engineering Design?
Goodheart-Willcox offers a physical textbook, Exploring Design, Technology & Engineering, for engineering design. You can also access the resource in an eText format.
The 4th edition of the textbook offers a robust amount of content to teach a full engineering design course and aligns with the ITEEA Standards for Technology and Engineering Literacy (STEL).
The textbook also comes with additional instructional resources, such as hands-on lab activities, but does not include a full-fledged digital curriculum that integrates entirely with a learning management system (LMS).
What Does iCEV Offer for Engineering Design?
iCEV offers two complete digital courses for engineering design, Engineering Design and Presentation I and Engineering Design and Presentation II. The year-long courses are designed to be used in sequence, with learners completing the first before moving on to more advanced concepts in the second.
Both courses are part of iCEV’s comprehensive Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum. As a digital curriculum, the courses include multimedia lessons, interactive projects and activities, and formative and summative assessments. iCEV also integrates with many major learning management systems and single sign-on options.
What Is the Instructional Focus of Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV?
Despite both offering materials for teaching an engineering design and presentation course, Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV have separate instructional focuses that affect how their classes are designed and who will benefit the most from them.
In this section, you’ll find more information about the different instructional designs of Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV.
What Is Goodheart-Willcox's Instructional Focus?
As a physical textbook publisher, Goodheart-Willcox’s resources are designed around providing a comprehensive, detailed resource that can be accessed in both printed and digital formats. The instructional materials are oriented toward a traditional classroom environment, emphasizing large amounts of reading content combined with teacher instruction.
The textbook comes with additional resources to help students master particular concepts, such as mathematics and using CAD programs. Teachers also gain access to simple instructional resources like lesson plans, slide presentations, and suggested activities.
Each topic builds upon previous knowledge to learn an overarching concept, and the lesson plans guide instructors and students through this process.
Ultimately, Goodheart-Willcox focuses on providing an optimal text-based learning experience with few additional options for added interactivity. It works best in a lecture and reading format where the book is the driving force for learning.
What Is iCEV's Instructional Focus?
The iCEV Engineering Design and Presentation courses are designed to provide a blended learning experience for teachers and students. While iCEV includes written components, learners receive information through multimedia presentations, video and visual instruction, and interactive projects and activities. This allows students to master content through a variety of instructional methodologies that prepare them for future success.
Each course is presented through iCEV’s digital platform, which tracks student progress and integrates with most learning management systems. Teachers receive access to iCEV’s extensive library of premade lesson plans and instructional resources for these classes, along with several other courses in the STEM pathway.
When students learn through multiple iCEV courses, educators can provide cohesive instruction that builds upon knowledge and skills to ensure students are ready for engineering careers.
iCEV is ultimately designed to give students an interactive environment that blends different instructional opportunities for an ideal learning experience.
What Instructional Materials Are Included?
As a textbook publisher and digital curriculum provider, Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV cover different topics with a unique set of instructional materials.
In this section, we’ll review what each provider offers in their instructional resources.
What Instructional Materials Does Goodheart-Willcox Include?
The Exploring Design, Technology & Engineering textbook is the principal resource available from Goodheart-Willcox. The textbook is divided into 26 chapters that explore the relationship between these three subjects, with a heavy emphasis on technology and its applications.
The chapters are grouped into five overarching units for ease of use:
- Scope of Technology
- Resources and Technology
- Creating Technology
- Technological Contexts
- Technology and Society
Additional illustrations, exercises, and features build upon the content of the written text. A supplementary workbook also helps guide students through projects and features related to the primary textbook.
Teachers can use lesson plans and presentation slides to enhance the textbook, but beyond these, there aren’t many resources available for instructors.
What Instructional Materials Does iCEV Include?
iCEV includes a variety of instructional resources to promote a multifaceted learning experience. Each Engineering Design and Presentation course consists of lessons filled with detailed plans, multimedia content, and interactive activities and assessments.
For Engineering Design and Presentation I, students progress through these 13 lessons:
- Professionalism in the Sciences: Engineering Presentation
- STEM Careers: Engineering Presentation
- Engineering Teams
- Ethics in Engineering Design
- Project Planning & Management
- Lab Safety: Engineering Presentation
- Principles of Computer-Aided Drawing
- Engineering Design Methodologies
- Product Design Considerations
- Prototyping
- Design Challenge: Cargo Transport
- Design Challenge: Product Design & Production
- Engineering Design & Presentation Capstone
These lessons introduce students to engineering design fundamentals and provide opportunities to test their knowledge through projects.
In the Engineering Design and Presentation II course, students continue learning with these 11 lessons:
- STEM Careers: Advanced Engineering Design
- Professionalism in the Sciences: Advanced Engineering Design
- Ethics in Advanced Engineering Design
- Team Projects
- Engineering Project Management Skills
- Production Management
- Advanced Computer-Aided Drawing
- Lab Safety Procedures: Advanced Engineering Design
- Design Challenge: Remote Control Vehicle
- Advanced Prototype Fabrication
- Advanced Engineering Design & Presentation Capstone
The second course teaches students more about advanced engineering and the project and production management skills they’ll need for long-term success.
Students complete capstone projects at the end of each course that demonstrate their engineering design skills.
Which Engineering Design Course Is Right for You?
Selecting the optimal engineering design curriculum for your CTE students can be challenging. You want to be sure you pick the best materials to meet your standards and prepare each student for future success in STEM careers.
In this article, you’ve read about the benefits of teaching engineering design with Goodheart-Willcox and iCEV. Depending on the learning environment you’d like to create, one or the other could be the better choice.
Goodheart-Willcox could be right if you are looking for a detailed textbook that engages students through a traditional reading and lecture format. The resource is comprehensive and aligns with STEL standards.
However, if you want to meet your standards with an interactive resource that’s part of a comprehensive STEM curriculum, consider iCEV. You’ll be able to teach engineering design with courses that fit seamlessly into iCEV’s cohesive CTE curriculum.
Could iCEV be the right fit for your students? Sign up for a free trial to receive full access to the STEM curriculum and decide if it suits your program.
