Engineering

Design Talks: 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

Natalie De Lucca

Molly Malinowski

Vera Gor

Rae Woodcock

Tyrine Pangan

Naina Sood

Lead Organization(s)
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.

Comparing Optimization Practices Across Engineering Learning Contexts Using Process Data

Despite an increasing focus on integrating engineering design in K-12 settings, relatively few studies have investigated how to support students to engage in systematic processes to optimize the designs of their solutions. Emerging learning technologies such as computational models and simulations enable rapid feedback to learners about their design performance, as well as the ability to research how students may or may not be using systematic approaches to the optimization of their designs.

Author/Presenter

James P. Bywater

Tugba Karabiyik

Alejandra Magana

Corey Schimpf

Ying Ying Seah 

Year
2023
Short Description

Despite an increasing focus on integrating engineering design in K-12 settings, relatively few studies have investigated how to support students to engage in systematic processes to optimize the designs of their solutions. This study explored how middle school, high school, and pre-service students optimized the design of a home for energy efficiency, size, and cost using facets of fluency, flexibility, closeness, and quality.

Comparing Optimization Practices Across Engineering Learning Contexts Using Process Data

Despite an increasing focus on integrating engineering design in K-12 settings, relatively few studies have investigated how to support students to engage in systematic processes to optimize the designs of their solutions. Emerging learning technologies such as computational models and simulations enable rapid feedback to learners about their design performance, as well as the ability to research how students may or may not be using systematic approaches to the optimization of their designs.

Author/Presenter

James P. Bywater

Tugba Karabiyik

Alejandra Magana

Corey Schimpf

Ying Ying Seah 

Year
2023
Short Description

Despite an increasing focus on integrating engineering design in K-12 settings, relatively few studies have investigated how to support students to engage in systematic processes to optimize the designs of their solutions. This study explored how middle school, high school, and pre-service students optimized the design of a home for energy efficiency, size, and cost using facets of fluency, flexibility, closeness, and quality.

The Advancing Coherent and Equitable Systems of Science Education Project

Principal Investigator:

The Advancing Coherent and Equitable Systems of Science Education (ACESSE, or “access”) project brings together partners from educational research and practice to promote equity and coherence in systems of science education. It involves a deep collaboration between the Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS), the University of Washington, and the University of Colorado Boulder. Strategies and resources from this project are being shared around the country through networks of science education leaders. See https://stemteachingtools.org/

Click image to preview:
Discipline/Topic: