Advancing Engineering Education in P‐12 Classrooms |
| |
| Authors: | Sean Brophy Stacy Klein Merredith Portsmore Chris Rogers |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Engineering Education Purdue University;2. Sean P. Brophy is an assistant professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University and research director for INSPIRE P‐12 Engineering Education. Dr. Brophy is currently conducting research on precursors to engineering thinking in young children. This work aligns well with his other research interests relate to using simulations and models to facilitate students' understanding of difficult concepts within engineering.;3. Department of Biomedical Engineering Vanderbilt University;4. Stacy Klein is the associate dean of Outreach at Vanderbilt University and a research faculty member in bioengineering and medical imaging. An active developer of new high school and undergraduate curricula through the VaNTH ERC, she is co‐PI of the NSF‐sponsored projects, “Biomedical Imaging Education: Safe, Inexpensive Hands‐On Learning” and the Vanderbilt BME RET Site Program.;5. Department of Education Tufts University;6. Merredith Portsmore is a Ph.D. Candidate at Tufts University in Engineering Education. She received undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and English at Tufts as well as a Master's in Education. Prior to returning to school, she worked at the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach for four years supporting the development of ROBOLAB and creating Web based resources to support educators using ROBOLAB. She is currently working on deploying a Web‐based museum (http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/kime) that will facilitate kids from around the world to sharing science, math, and engineering projects.;7. Department of Mechanical Engineering Tufts University;8. Chris Rogers is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University and director of Tufts' Center for Engineering Educational Outreach. Chris is involved in six different research areas: particle‐laden flows, tele‐robotics and controls, slurry flows in chemical‐mechanical planarization, the engineering of musical instruments, measuring flame shapes of couch fires, and in elementary school engineering education. He has worked with LEGO to develop ROBOLAB, a software interface to teach robotics to as young as 3 years old. |
| |
| Abstract: | Engineering as a profession faces the challenge of making the use of technology ubiquitous and transparent in society while at the same time raising young learners' interest and understanding of how technology works. Educational efforts in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (i.e., STEM disciplines) continue to grow in pre‐kindergarten through 12th grade (P‐12) as part of addressing this challenge. This article explores how engineering education can support acquisition of a wide range of knowledge and skills associated with comprehending and using STEM knowledge to accomplish real world problem solving through design, troubleshooting, and analysis activities. We present several promising instructional models for teaching engineering in P‐12 classrooms as examples of how engineering can be integrated into the curriculum. While the introduction of engineering education into P‐12 classrooms presents a number of opportunities for STEM learning, it also raises issues regarding teacher knowledge and professional development, and institutional challenges such as curricular standards and high‐stakes assessments. These issues are considered briefly with respect to providing direction for future research and development on engineering in P‐12. |
| |
| Keywords: | design problem solving P‐12 education |
|
|
