Supporting Secondary Students’ Earth Science Knowledge and Engineering Design Skills with Mobile Design Studios

In this project, the research team will create a computer-mediated design environment that enables students in grades 7-10 to collaboratively explore, make connections, generate, and evaluate design ideas that address environmental science challenges. A unique feature of the project is its use of an artificial intelligent (AI) design mentor that relies on Design Heuristics, a research-based creativity tool that guides students through exploration of ideas and “learns” from students’ design processes to better assist them. The project will examine students’ perceptions of science and engineering, their ability to integrate academic and personal or community knowledge, their confidence for engaging in engineering, and their design thinking.

Full Description

Today’s youth face a future riddled with challenges, including access to clean water, increasing biodiversity loss, and climate change. These challenges are particularly thorny because the underlying problems are either ill-structured or can be perceived in multiple ways. Addressing these thorny Earth science challenges will require creative solutions, which is why the Mobile Design Studio project focuses on integrating science and engineering content. In the four-year project, the research team will create a computer-mediated design environment that enables students in grades 7-10 to collaboratively explore, make connections, generate, and evaluate design ideas that address environmental science challenges. A unique feature of the project is its use of an artificial intelligent (AI) design mentor that relies on Design Heuristics, a research-based creativity tool that guides students through exploration of ideas and “learns” from students’ design processes to better assist them. The project will examine students’ perceptions of science and engineering, their ability to integrate academic and personal or community knowledge, their confidence for engaging in engineering, and their design thinking.

This project will use front-end engineering design work (i.e., engaging in problem definition and solution exploration) to support secondary students’ learning at the intersection of Earth science, engineering design, and socio-scientific disciplinary skills and content. Further, studying how Earth and environmental science teachers and their students engage with the AI design mentor addresses the ongoing challenge of low teacher familiarity with engineering and advances research at the human-technology frontier. Using mixed methods, the team will examine students’ design thinking, engineering design self-efficacy, perceptions of and interests in science and engineering and their integration of scientific, engineering, and personal/community knowledge. Data sources include classroom observation, student design artifacts, student actions in the platform (e.g., editing a teammate’s design concept) and pre/post surveys. Analytic methods include inductive coding, learning analytics, sequence analysis and data visualization. The project evaluation will examine how the team plans, delivers, and iteratively enhances the MODS platform (e.g., AI mentor, front-end design activities), class lessons (created by the project team and teachers), professional development, and other project support materials. The project’s work will be shared through conferences and journals in the engineering education and science education fields. Research findings, teacher and school feedback, and project reflections will also be shared with school leaders and teachers through the University at Buffalo’s College of Engineering Outreach Office and through the biannual @Concord newsletter, which has 46,000 subscriber network. In the final year, the team will hold public-facing, mini-workshops on teaching engineering design with innovative technology at the national and local levels. A dedicated website will make all design challenges, instructional guides, tutorial videos, and teacher and student tips, freely available.

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