Engineering

The Role of Whole-Class Conversations in Supporting Early Elementary Students’ Engineering Design Sense-Making

We consider how intentionally planned and facilitated whole-class conversations can “make space” for students’ sense-making about engineering problems and solutions and position them with epistemic authority to contribute to collective thinking. We conducted a case study on a first-grade engineering lesson that included whole-class Idea Generation and Design Synthesis Talks. We found students sense-making as they refined their design proposals and analyses in light of classmates’ contributions to the whole-class conversations.

Author/Presenter

Kristen Wendell

Chelsea Andrews

Jessica Watkins

Molly Malinowski

Year
2023
Short Description

We consider how intentionally planned and facilitated whole-class conversations can “make space” for students’ sense-making about engineering problems and solutions and position them with epistemic authority to contribute to collective thinking.

Design Talks: Fostering Whole-Class Conversations During Engineering Design Units

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Author/Presenter
Kristen Wendell

Jessica Watkins

Chelsea Andrews

Tyrine Pangan

Natalie De Lucca

Vera Gor

Molly Malinowski

Naina Sood Fox

Rae Woodcock

Year
2024
Short Description

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Design Talks: Fostering Whole-Class Conversations During Engineering Design Units

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Author/Presenter
Kristen Wendell

Jessica Watkins

Chelsea Andrews

Tyrine Pangan

Natalie De Lucca

Vera Gor

Molly Malinowski

Naina Sood Fox

Rae Woodcock

Year
2024
Short Description

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Scaling STEM-ID—Research Strategies to Inform Initial Scaling of Middle School Engineering Curricula

This work-in-progress paper discusses ****, a three-year middle school Engineering and Technology course sequence that integrates foundational mathematics and science in an engineering context through challenges that introduce students to advanced manufacturing tools such as computer aided design (CAD) and 3D printing and incorporate engineering concepts such as pneumatics, aeronautics, and robotics. The paper will describe research strategies informing the initial scaling of the **** curricula following its iterative development over several years in a previous large-scale project.

Author/Presenter

Dyanne Baptiste Porter

Jessica D Gale

Meltem Alemdar

Sunni Haag Newton

Abeera P. Rehmat

Talia Capozzoli

Jeffrey H Rosen

Jasmine Choi

Roxanne Moore

Year
2023
Short Description

This work-in-progress paper discusses a three-year middle school Engineering and Technology course sequence that integrates foundational mathematics and science in an engineering context through challenges that introduce students to advanced manufacturing tools such as computer aided design (CAD) and 3D printing and incorporate engineering concepts such as pneumatics, aeronautics, and robotics.

Connecting Classroom Assessment with Learning Goals and Instruction Through Theories of Learning

In this report section, we discuss the importance of aligning classroom assessments with learning goals and instructional practices to both shape and evaluate students’ learning opportunities. We describe a plausible solution for improving alignment by integrating theories of learning in the design of classroom assessments. We discuss ways in which the specification of theories of learning as learning progressions can improve alignment between classroom assessments and instruction by focusing on the content, task design, and data generated from classroom assessments.

Author/Presenter

Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller

Christopher J. Harris

Year
2023
Short Description

In this report section, we discuss the importance of aligning classroom assessments with learning goals and instructional practices to both shape and evaluate students’ learning opportunities.

Why Is Engineering Design Important for All Learners?

Engineering design systematically identifies needs, wants, and problems and then devises solutions to address them. A central component of our work is guiding students in the engineered design of solutions to local environmental problems.

Songer, N. B. (2023). Why is engineering design important for all learners?. Open Access Government April 2023, pp.300-301. https://doi.org/10.56367/OAG-038-10193

Author/Presenter

Nancy Butler Songer

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Engineering design systematically identifies needs, wants, and problems and then devises solutions to address them. A central component of our work is guiding students in the engineered design of solutions to local environmental problems.

How Do We Design Curricula to Foster Innovation, Motivation and Interest in STEM Learning?

Purpose
The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.

Design/methodology/approach
The research approach consisted of mixed methods, including content analyses and descriptive statistics.

Author/Presenter
Julia E. Calabrese

Nancy Butler Songer

Holly Cordner

Daniel Kalani Aina Jr

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.

Engineering Connections in Culturally-Responsive Mathematical Modeling Problems

This poster presents findings from design and early implementation work of the NSF DRK-12 project which positions 6th and 7th grade students as decision makers in their own learning, integrating culturally responsive mathematical modeling problems into their regular curriculum. We take a sociocritical perspective on modeling, supporting students in using mathematics to understand their life experiences and, when appropriate, to challenge the existing social order (e.g., Aguirre et al., 2019; Author, 2021; Cirillo et al., 2016; Felton-Koestler, 2020).

Author/Presenter

Corey E. Brady

Hyunyi Jung

Jose David de Leon Alejandro

Chonika C Coleman-King

Zandra de Araujo

Kayla Sutcliffe

Year
2023
Short Description

This poster presents findings from design and early implementation work of the NSF DRK-12 project which positions 6th and 7th grade students as decision makers in their own learning, integrating culturally responsive mathematical modeling problems into their regular curriculum. We take a sociocritical perspective on modeling, supporting students in using mathematics to understand their life experiences and, when appropriate, to challenge the existing social order. By learning to recognize mathematical dimensions of their emerging identities in classroom settings, we hope to inspire excitement about mathematics and boost students’ experiences of mathematical agency.

Innovate to Mitigate: Teacher Role in a Student Competition

The Innovate to Mitigate (I2M) project poses challenges for secondary-school students to design feasible, innovative strategies that mitigate CO2 emissions and thus global warming. Design is informed by research on problem-based learning, pedagogy for which poses demands on teachers. This paper presents preliminary evidence about how I2M teachers supported student teams to engage in science and engineering practices.

Author/Presenter

Gillian Puttick

Brian Drayton

Santiago Gasca

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

The Innovate to Mitigate (I2M) project poses challenges for secondary-school students to design feasible, innovative strategies that mitigate CO2 emissions and thus global warming. Design is informed by research on problem-based learning, pedagogy for which poses demands on teachers. This paper presents preliminary evidence about how I2M teachers supported student teams to engage in science and engineering practices.

Innovate to Mitigate: Teacher Role in a Student Competition

The Innovate to Mitigate (I2M) project poses challenges for secondary-school students to design feasible, innovative strategies that mitigate CO2 emissions and thus global warming. Design is informed by research on problem-based learning, pedagogy for which poses demands on teachers. This paper presents preliminary evidence about how I2M teachers supported student teams to engage in science and engineering practices.

Author/Presenter

Gillian Puttick

Brian Drayton

Santiago Gasca

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

The Innovate to Mitigate (I2M) project poses challenges for secondary-school students to design feasible, innovative strategies that mitigate CO2 emissions and thus global warming. Design is informed by research on problem-based learning, pedagogy for which poses demands on teachers. This paper presents preliminary evidence about how I2M teachers supported student teams to engage in science and engineering practices.