THE FAB LAB AS A SETTING FOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGINEERING COURSES: INCREASING RIGOR, IMPROVING ENGAGEMENT, DRIVING EQUITY Mr. David Drum, University of Missouri, USA Dr. Suzanne Hull, Fulton School District, USA Mr. Jim Hall, Fulton School District, USA Abstract The public school district in Fulton, Missouri, USA, has created a series of student-centered engineering courses using a constructivist approach. From the beginning of the 2013 academic year, the courses have been held in its high school in the first Fab Lab established in a K-12 setting in Missouri. District goals have been to increase student performance, improve engagement, and instill discovery-based lifelong learning skills. Student interest in these elective courses has exceeded scheduling capacity three years in a row. The Fab Lab allows technical learners and students who are more academically inclined to work together. While the ratio of male to female students in the courses is unequal, the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic makeup of enrolled students is the same as the high school. Students in a Fab Lab course had 25% fewer discipline referrals over the course of the 2014-2015 school year than non-enrolled students. All seniors enrolled in Fab Lab courses have graduated on time, including all 36 students qualifying for free and reduced price lunch. Qualitatively, positive culture, enthusiasm, service and volunteering, and interest in science and technology have increased via the Fab Lab. Objectives In November 2012 Fulton High School Advanced Placement Physics instructor Jim Hall proposed a new course to Fulton School District administrators and Board of Education. Hall was inspired to create Introduction to Engineering Design because of student interest displayed in his classes when they were allowed to build objects that demonstrated principles of physics. District administrators responded positively to the course concept and approved one section to begin in the 2013-2014 school year. The district budgeted to purchase a consumer-grade 3D printer as the centerpiece of the course, in addition to refreshing existing wood shop equipment, for students to combine software and tactile skills to fabricate useful and interesting objects. Separately, in April 2013 the Missouri Research and Education Network, or MOREnet, an independent business unit of the University of Missouri–System, published a solicitation for grant proposals from K-12 schools in Missouri seeking to improve student performance through the adoption of emerging, technology-enabled, student-centered learning approaches. The three- year partnership described in the proposal solicitation would seek to remove technical barriers and adopt, adapt, and create applications to support the pedagogy and resources adopted or created by the district. MOREnet’s ultimate goal was to measurably improve student performance in a fiscally sustainable way by developing a practical approach to transforming and supporting school districts engaged in student-centered learning practices. Fulton reviewed MOREnet’s grant proposal solicitation and reconsidered the Introduction to Engineering Design course given the expanded budget available in the grant. The new vision for the course addressed the importance of student-centered learning; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines; technical reading and writing skills; and