Engineering

Building Networks and Enhancing Diversity in the K-12 STEM Teaching Workforce

Principal Investigator: 
Carol O'Donnell

The goal of this planning grant, which is based on the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). is to explicitly focus on broadening participation in the K-12 STEM teaching workforce, with the theory of action that diversifying the K-12 STEM teaching workforce would in the long term help more students see STEM as accessible to them and then be more likely to choose a STEM degree or career. This grant is also funded by NSF INCLUDES.

Co-PI(s): Helen Bond and Marilyn M Irving, Howard University; Hyunju Lee and Amy L D'Amico, Smithsonian Institution

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Discipline / Topic: 
Computer Science
Engineering
Mathematics
Science
Technology
Systems Reform
Target Audience: 
Pre-Kindergarten
Elementary School
Middle School

Transforming Scientific Practices to Promote Students Interest and Motivation in the Life Sciences: A Teacher Leadership Development Intervention

Principal Investigator: 
Pauline Chinn

How Do Teacher Leaders Transform Scientific Practices to Promote Students Interest and Motivation in STEM? Formal and informal K-12+ educators learn to employ strategies of community mapping, curricular mapping and place-based, culturally sustaining pedagogy to write, teach, and evaluate NGSS lessons that engage underrepresented students in mathematics, life, earth, and physical sciences. Two case studies highlight how educators apply these strategies to intersect three domains: experiential/place-based learning, culturally sustaining learning, and disciplinary learning .

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Discipline / Topic: 
Engineering
Mathematics
Science
Technology
Assessment
Broadening Participation
Curriculum
Disciplinary Content Knowledge
Educational Technology
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Systems Reform
Target Audience: 
Teachers

Ed+gineering: An Interdisciplinary Partnership Integrating Engineering into Elementary Teacher Preparation Programs

Principal Investigator: 
Jennifer Kidd

While new standards call for elementary students to learn engineering, many teachers do not receive any training in engineering and feel underprepared to teach it. Ed+gineering partners preservice teachers with engineering undergraduate students at three points during their respective preparation programs to develop and teach engineering lessons to elementary students. These three collaborations help engineering students develop interdisciplinary collaboration skills while helping preservice teachers develop the competence and confidence to integrate engineering.

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Discipline / Topic: 
Engineering
Broadening Participation
Disciplinary Content Knowledge
Professional Development
Target Audience: 
Elementary School
Post-secondary

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

Principal Investigator: 
Vikram Kapila

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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Discipline / Topic: 
Computer Science
Engineering
Mathematics
Science
Curriculum
Disciplinary Content Knowledge
Educational Technology
Professional Development
Target Audience: 
Middle School

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

Engineering
Science
Technology
Broadening Participation
Gaming/Virtual Environments
Middle

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

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Author/Presenter: 
Rebecca Zulli Lowe
Adrienne Smith
Christie Prout
G. G. Maresch
Christopher Bacot
Lura Sapp
Bill Eustace
Lead Organization(s): 
North Florida Community College (NFCC)
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.

Resource(s): 
PDF icon Submission_3.9.2021.pdf

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: 
Glenn Ellis
Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
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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Discipline / Topic: 
Engineering
Science
Assessment
Broadening Participation
Cognitive Science
Curriculum
Disciplinary Content Knowledge
Professional Development
Target Audience: 
Middle School

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

Principal Investigator: 
Guenter Maresch
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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Discipline / Topic: 
Computer Science
Engineering
Mathematics
Science
Technology
Curriculum
Target Audience: 
Middle School

Exploring Experienced Designers' Strategies in a CAD Learning Environment

Engineering
Science
Assessment
Educational Technology
Gaming/Virtual Environments
High
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.
Access Link: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cae.22441
Author/Presenter: 
Anne M. McAlister
James P. Bywater
Jennifer L. Chiu
Lead Organization(s): 
University of Virginia (UVA)
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

Engineering
Science
Middle

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.

Access Link: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/tea.21691
Author/Presenter: 
Angela Calabrese Barton
Kathleen Schenkel
Edna Tan
Lead Organization(s): 
University of Michigan (UM)
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

Engineering
Technology
Educational Technology
Elementary
Undergraduate
Graduate

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.

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Author/Presenter: 
Jennifer Kidd
Krishna Kaipa
Kristie Gutierrez
Pilar Pazos
Orlando Ayala
Stacie Ringleb
Lead Organization(s): 
Old Dominion University
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.

Resource(s): 
PDF icon ___Zooming_In____on_Robotics_during_COVID_19__A_Preservice_Teacher__an_Engineering_Student__and_a_5t.pdf

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