Education Commons^™

Implementing Ngss Engineering Disciplinary Core Ideas In Middle School Science Classrooms: Results From The Field, Jessica Gale, Jayma Koval, Mike Ryan, Marion Usselman, Stefanie Wind

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

With the inclusion of engineering disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) position engineering as a new priority in K–12 science classrooms. This paper reports findings from the implementation of SLIDER, a problem-based learning 8th grade physical science curriculum that integrates engineering and physical science core ideas. As a culminating engineering design challenge, the SLIDER curriculum asks students to apply their understanding of energy, motion, and forces to design an automatic braking system for a robotic truck. The paper describes the curriculum and synthesizes findings from an array of data sources including student design interviews, written design …

Exploring Problem-Based Learning For Middle School Design And Engineering Education In Digital Fabrication Laboratories, Monica M. Chan, Paulo Blikstein

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This is a research study of design and engineering classes that use a problem-based learning (PBL) approach in digital fabrication makerspaces in two middle schools. In these studies, teachers employ a PBL approach and provide an ill-structured problem scenario to facilitate design and engineering lessons in the FabLab (fabrication laboratory). Students in each school tackled different challenges that they defined for themselves in groups. This study provides examples of student-student interactions separated into key themes—defining specifications with teammates, personal exploration, and communication about discoveries. This study also provides examples of teacher-student interactions, and themes include demonstrations with tangible objects, discussing …

Problem-Based Teacher-Mentor Education: Fostering Literacy Acquisition In Multicultural Classrooms, Pamela Hartman, Corinne Renguette, Mary Theresa Seig

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

We designed a professional development (PD) teacher-mentor program that used problem-based learning (PBL) to accomplish two goals. First, teachers explored how PBL could be used effectively in their classrooms to change the way they think about teaching to include literacy development in content areas. Second, PBL was the basis for PD training to help them improve their own knowledge of PBL, become mentors to other teachers, and implement PBL in their schools across content areas.

Educators in the United States are challenged to teach linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students with differing literacy levels. The demographics of U.S. classrooms require …