Engineering

Teaching STEM with Robotics: Design, Development, and Testing of a Research-based Professional Development Program for Teachers

Principal Investigator:

To lower the barriers in STEM disciplines for students, using evidence-based research, we designed and conducted a professional development program that built middle school teachers' capacity to use hands-on robotics and engineering design as the curriculum focus. Through summer workshops, teachers learned to: build and program LEGO robots; create and implement standards-aligned robotics-based STEM lessons; and develop, practice, and examine optimal pedagogical approaches for STEM learning using robotics.
 

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Target Audience:

Taking STEM Enrichment Camps Virtual: Strategies & Reflections from Quick Pivot Due to COVID-19

Since COVID-19 began spreading in the US and quickly established as a global pandemic in March of 2020, the NSF-funded STEM SEALS team at North Florida College faced the touch decision to either

Author/Presenter

Rebecca Zulli Lowe

Adrienne Smith

Christie Prout

G. G. Maresch

Christopher Bacot

Lura Sapp

Bill Eustace

Year
2021
Short Description

This exploratory study aimed to (1) identify the  barriers to moving STEM enrichment programming in a rural environment from in-person to virtual activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) describe key decisions that were made in transitioning to the virtual format along with the rationale behind those decisions, and (3) disseminate best practices that emerged from the inaugural effort.

Design and Development of Transmedia Narrative-based Curricula to Engage Children in Scientific Thinking and Engineering Design (Collaborative Research: Ellis and McGinnis-Cavanaugh)

Principal Investigator:
Transforming Engineering Education in Middle Schools (TEEMS) is an NGSS-aligned middle school curriculum that utilizes heroic stories to engage students in learning engineering and science concepts.
 
Our curriculum consists of multiweek units covering Principles of Engineering Design and Materials, Tools, and Manufacturing,  as well as six shorter integrated engineering/science lessons.
 
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Design and Development of Transmedia Narrative-based Curricula to Engage Children in Scientific Thinking and Engineering Design (Collaborative Research: Ellis and McGinnis-Cavanaugh)

Principal Investigator:
Transforming Engineering Education in Middle Schools (TEEMS) is an NGSS-aligned middle school curriculum that utilizes heroic stories to engage students in learning engineering and science concepts.
 
Our curriculum consists of multiweek units covering Principles of Engineering Design and Materials, Tools, and Manufacturing,  as well as six shorter integrated engineering/science lessons.
 
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Target Audience:

STEM Sea, Air, and Land Remotely Operated Vehicle Design Challenges for Rural, Middle School Youth

Principal Investigator:
STEM SEALs builds collaborative partnerships between North Florida College and local middle schools to bolster STEM pathways for students in this region. It involves the development of inexpensive, rigorous, and versatile design challenges to expose rural middle school students to high quality STEM experiences. Researchers study the feasibility and efficacy of these experiences to promote greater awareness of STEM pathways, increase readiness for STEM study; and generate student identity as STEM-able, STEM-skilled, and STEM-belonging.
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Exploring Experienced Designers' Strategies in a CAD Learning Environment

Computer-aided design (CAD) simulation environments offer opportunities for students to evaluate, redesign, and visualize engineering design solutions quickly and get feedback. However, the use of CAD simulation tools in precollege settings is relatively rare. This study explores design strategies used by experienced designers in Energy3D, a CAD simulation environment designed for learning settings, to provide insight into supporting students' use of CAD simulation environments in precollege settings.
Author/Presenter

Anne M. McAlister

James P. Bywater

Jennifer L. Chiu

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

This study explores design strategies used by experienced designers in Energy3D, a computer-aided design (CAD) simulation environment designed for learning settings, to provide insight into supporting students' use of CAD simulation environments in precollege settings.

Collaboratively Engineering for Justice in Sixth Grade STEM

In this article, it is argued that processes of co-production can support teachers and students in organizing resources for justice through science learning. Drawing upon a critical justice conceptual framework, critical ethnographic data from one urban middle school classroom during a unit focused on engineering for sustainable communities were analyzed.

Author/Presenter

Angela Calabrese Barton

Kathleen Schenkel

Edna Tan

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

In this article, it is argued that processes of co-production can support teachers and students in organizing resources for justice through science learning. Drawing upon a critical justice conceptual framework, critical ethnographic data from one urban middle school classroom during a unit focused on engineering for sustainable communities were analyzed.

“Zooming In” on Robotics during COVID-19: A Preservice Teacher, an Engineering Student, and a 5th Grader Engineer Robotic Flowers via Zoom

The COVID-19 induced school shutdown dramatically decreased students’ hands-on STEM learning opportunities. An NSF-funded program partnering preservice teachers and undergraduate engineering students to teach robotics to fifth graders was adapted to a virtual format via Zoom. A case study intimately explored one team’s experience as they engineered bio-inspired robots over five weekly sessions. Zoom recordings, written reflections, and lesson slides were analyzed to describe how the virtual context shaped the lesson and influenced the preservice teacher’s experience.

Author/Presenter

Jennifer Kidd

Krishna Kaipa

Kristie Gutierrez

Pilar Pazos

Orlando Ayala

Stacie Ringleb

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2020
Short Description

An NSF-funded program partnering preservice teachers and undergraduate engineering students to teach robotics to fifth graders was adapted to a virtual format via Zoom. A case study intimately explored one team’s experience as they engineered bio-inspired robots over five weekly sessions.

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR) Full Proposal Deadline

Event Date
Sponsoring Organization

Institutional and Community Transformation Capacity-Building Proposals
Engaged Student Learning and Institutional and Community Transformation Level 1 Proposals

Learn more at https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505082&org=EHR&sel_org….

Event Type