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Full-Text Articles in Education

“We Flourish”: The Role Of Bipoc Parents In Diversifying Children’S Literature, Kayla Neal Jan 2024

“We Flourish”: The Role Of Bipoc Parents In Diversifying Children’S Literature, Kayla Neal

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.


Understanding Engineering Design Fixation For K-12 Education, Sopheak Seng, William S. Walker Iii Jan 2024

Understanding Engineering Design Fixation For K-12 Education, Sopheak Seng, William S. Walker Iii

Indiana STEM Education Conference

Design fixation is a distinct and established research topic at a post-secondary level which has shown that practitioners of engineering in any capacity (e.g., K-12 students, engineering students, college professors, or professional engineers) can experience fixation. Some research has shown that elementary and secondary students exhibit signs of design fixation while working on engineering design challenges (Luo, 2017; Mentzer et al., 2015). This research brief provides a definition of design fixation, describe fixation in the K-12 classroom, and suggest additional needed research.


Library Steam Kits: Developing Circulatable Curriculum For Community Steam Learning, Daphne Fauber, Ashley Fletcher Dec 2023

Library Steam Kits: Developing Circulatable Curriculum For Community Steam Learning, Daphne Fauber, Ashley Fletcher

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Public libraries serve as repositories for a movement described as cultivation of the Library of Things. In the wake of COVID-19, the West Lafayette Public Library enhanced its existing Library of Things collection through the creation of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) kits. Since 2017, the West Lafayette Public Library has held regular free STEAM programs for the community; those programs were put on hold during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which concurred with a library renovation. These kits provide the community with the ability to learn STEAM concepts at home engaging, hands-on activities that may otherwise …


Klondike Elementary School: Serving Purdue And The Local Community And Empowering Students From Around The Globe Through High-Quality Learning Experiences Accenting Diversity And Inclusion, Jingyuan Zhang, Yan Ping Xin Dec 2023

Klondike Elementary School: Serving Purdue And The Local Community And Empowering Students From Around The Globe Through High-Quality Learning Experiences Accenting Diversity And Inclusion, Jingyuan Zhang, Yan Ping Xin

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Disabilities Awareness Program (DAP) aims to cultivate an understanding of disability and inclusion among young children through accessible instructions, age-appropriate activities, and engaging discussions. We want to take this opportunity to introduce one of our school partners - Klondike Elementary School (KES), to recognize its contributions to DAP in providing service-learning opportunities and showcase KES as one of the community partners.


Challenging The Notion Of Role Models In Engineering Outreach Programs For Youth, Kelli M. Paul, Karen Miel, Merredith D. Portsmore, Adam Maltese Oct 2023

Challenging The Notion Of Role Models In Engineering Outreach Programs For Youth, Kelli M. Paul, Karen Miel, Merredith D. Portsmore, Adam Maltese

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

Engineering outreach programs often portray outreach educators as role models for youth. It is widely believed that introducing youth, especially girls, to potential engineering role models will broaden participation in engineering majors and careers. Based on interviews with and surveys of fourth- and fifth-grade girls participating in an engineering outreach program, we question whether youth are looking for career role models, and we challenge the assumption that youth will take up an adult as a role model simply because the adult is presented as such. We question what role these ‘‘models’’ play in the minds and lives of youth and …


A Positioning Theory Analysis Of Interaction Surrounding Design Failures In An Elementary Engineering Club, Katarina N. Silvestri, Mary B. Mcvee, Lynn E. Shanahan, Kenneth English Oct 2023

A Positioning Theory Analysis Of Interaction Surrounding Design Failures In An Elementary Engineering Club, Katarina N. Silvestri, Mary B. Mcvee, Lynn E. Shanahan, Kenneth English

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

This qualitative study applies Positioning Theory to identify positions that mediate the experiences of design failure within the context of an afterschool engineering club (EC) with elementary students diverse in language, race, ethnicity, gender, and academic abilities. We ask: (1) What kinds of structural design failure and failure responses did participants in EC experience? and (2) What are students’ and teachers’ positions in relation to responses to design failure? Types of positions (e.g., builder, tinkerer, idea-elicitor, director, observer) were identified in relation to children’s and teachers’ actions and speech in response to structural design failure during EC. Participants included 12 …


Recognition Of Design Failure By Fourth-Grade Students During An Engineering Design Challenge, Ron K. Skinner, Danielle B. Harlow Mar 2023

Recognition Of Design Failure By Fourth-Grade Students During An Engineering Design Challenge, Ron K. Skinner, Danielle B. Harlow

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

The practice of persisting and learning from design failures is essential to engineering design and offers unique ways of knowing and learning for K-12 students. To understand how students engage in the practice of persisting and learning from design failures, we must first understand how, if at all, they recognize that a design failure has occurred. We studied a classroom of fourth-grade students engaged in an engineering design challenge and examined the ways in which design failure occurred and how students recognized, neglected to recognize, or misinterpreted design failure. We found that, in addition to anticipating failure, conducting fair tests, …


A Model For Equity-Oriented Prek-12 Engineering, Christine M. Cunningham, Gregory J. Kelly Dec 2022

A Model For Equity-Oriented Prek-12 Engineering, Christine M. Cunningham, Gregory J. Kelly

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

In this paper, we address the societally important issue of developing a more equitable approach to preK-12 engineering education. Our primary emphasis is on K-8 grades—a time when first impressions of engineering may be developed. Calls for increased participation by all students, including those who have been historically marginalized, motivate the need for theoretically grounded ways of developing and assessing educational programs. This paper draws from sociocultural learning theory and applies four theoretical and empirical analyses to derive design principles for equity that can inform curriculum, instruction, and assessment of preK-12 engineering education programs. We present a model for equity-oriented …


Disability Awareness Program For Young Children: A Community Service-Learning Program At Preschool And Elementary School, Jingyuan Zhang, David Ray Miranda, Yan Ping Xin Nov 2022

Disability Awareness Program For Young Children: A Community Service-Learning Program At Preschool And Elementary School, Jingyuan Zhang, David Ray Miranda, Yan Ping Xin

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Individuals with disabilities account for 26% of Americans and 14% of public education students. This minority group may not only deal with physical and/or mental impairments but also negative societal misunderstandings and attitudes that may lead to decreased friendships and increased social exclusion. Awareness and knowledge about disabilities can play a role in changing people’s attitudes towards disabilities and aid in creating a more positive and inclusive environment. Researchers have found that disability awareness programs in schools can positively teach young children to build positive attitudes about disabilities. In our program, a group of doctoral students helped young children in …


Insights From Two Decades Of P-12 Engineering Education Research, Cary I. Sneider, Mihir K. Ravel Nov 2021

Insights From Two Decades Of P-12 Engineering Education Research, Cary I. Sneider, Mihir K. Ravel

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

The 21st century has seen a growing movement in the United States towards the adoption of engineering and technology as a complement to science education. Motivated by this shift, this article offers insights into engineering education for grades P-12, based on a landscape review of 263 empirical research studies spanning the two decades from January 2000 to June 2021. These insights are organized around three core themes: (1) students’ understandings, skills, and attitudes about engineering and technology; (2) effective methods of P-12 engineering education; and (3) benefits of P-12 engineering education. The insights are captured in the form of evidence-based …


National Chemistry Week: From Irl To The Web, Ilayda Kelley, Daniela Mesa Sanchez Oct 2021

National Chemistry Week: From Irl To The Web, Ilayda Kelley, Daniela Mesa Sanchez

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

National Chemistry Week, an outreach program initiated by the American Chemical Society (ACS), encourages scientists to bring their love of chemistry to their community. Celebrated nationwide, ACS invites businesses, schools, and individuals to organize and participate in community events to promote the value of chemistry in everyday life. The Purdue graduate student chapter of Iota Sigma Pi, a national honor society for women in chemistry, annually organizes one such celebration. On a normal year, this event is a large logistical undertaking in which 100+ volunteers go directly to over 70 local elementary school classrooms and perform a series of activities …


Enhancing Engineering Identity Among Boys Of Color, Jerrod Henderson, Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, James Holly Jr, Rick Greer, Mariam Manuel Sep 2021

Enhancing Engineering Identity Among Boys Of Color, Jerrod Henderson, Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, James Holly Jr, Rick Greer, Mariam Manuel

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

Black and Brown men continue to be underrepresented in engineering. One explanation for the dearth of Black and Latino men in engineering is that engineering (and STEM) identity often is not inclusive of People of Color. As a result, Black and Brown boys may be less likely to become interested in STEM subjects. The purpose of this study, then, was to investigate how the components of one afterschool engineering program tap into engineering identity formation among fourth- and fifth-grade Black and Brown boys. Leveraging research on the STEM and engineering identity, we argue that the program and its key components …


The Production Of Epistemic Culture And Agency During A First-Grade Engineering Design Unit In An Urban Emergent School, Heidi B. Carlone, Alison K. Mercier, Salem R. Metzger Jun 2021

The Production Of Epistemic Culture And Agency During A First-Grade Engineering Design Unit In An Urban Emergent School, Heidi B. Carlone, Alison K. Mercier, Salem R. Metzger

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

Primary school practices are often bound by traditions that perpetuate compliance and skills-based, decontextualized, rote memorization activities. These histories of practice, prevalent in schools serving mostly Black and Brown children, make it inordinately difficult for students to author themselves as knowledge builders (i.e., with epistemic agency), which is a form of injustice. Engineering is a potentially fertile context to support the creation of epistemic culture, whereby young students’ assets are recognized, named, and leveraged as they create and shape the group’s disciplinary knowledge. The authors investigated this potential. The primary research question was: How do first-grade students in an urban …


Promoting Equity By Scaling Up Summer Engineering Experiences: A Retrospective Reflection On Tensions And Tradeoffs, Walter C. Lee, David B. Knight, Monica E. Cardella May 2021

Promoting Equity By Scaling Up Summer Engineering Experiences: A Retrospective Reflection On Tensions And Tradeoffs, Walter C. Lee, David B. Knight, Monica E. Cardella

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

A central challenge in engineering education is providing experiences that are appropriate for and accessible to underserved communities. However, to provide such experiences, we must better understand the process of offering a geographically distributed asset-based out-of-school program. This paper focuses on a collaborative research project that examined the broad implementation of the Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids (SEEK) program organized by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). SEEK is a three-week summer program that engages participants in hands-on, team-based engineering design projects. NSBE’s goal is to make SEEK culturally sustaining, community-connected, and scalable. The purpose of this paper is …


Education, Hurricanes, And Bananas: Studying Abroad In Honduras, Daphne Fauber Oct 2020

Education, Hurricanes, And Bananas: Studying Abroad In Honduras, Daphne Fauber

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

The College of Education Honduras Study Abroad program has been sending students to Honduras for a 17-day investigation of Honduran history, educational systems, and social justice in education since 2003. Honduras is a Central American country with a long history of exploitation, political conflict, and environmental disasters. The country began with a swift and brutal colonization by the Spanish, which left the indigenous people persecuted and massacred. In 1998, Honduras experienced a devastating hurricane that decimated many buildings and infrastructure. Large-scale farming operations run by foreign investors has resulted in political turmoil and a struggling working class. However, Honduras has …


Supporting Public School Students' Education And Adaptation To U.S. Schools While Celebrating Bilingualism, Allison Crosbie Oct 2020

Supporting Public School Students' Education And Adaptation To U.S. Schools While Celebrating Bilingualism, Allison Crosbie

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

In this paper, the author discusses her experience with the service-learning program Ayuda y Aprende while taking Spanish 301 at Purdue University. Ayuda y Aprende is a service-learning program through the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, in which advanced Spanish students work with Lafayette and West Lafayette elementary school children of Spanish-speaking families to help them adjust to the English language and American school culture, as well as improve their Spanish. During the weekly visits, university students work with children individually and in groups to assist them with school tasks such as classwork and homework. There was also time for …


Elementary Teachers’ Mental Images Of Engineers At Work, Rebekah Hammack, Juliana Utley, Toni Ivey, Karen High Sep 2020

Elementary Teachers’ Mental Images Of Engineers At Work, Rebekah Hammack, Juliana Utley, Toni Ivey, Karen High

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

The purpose of the current study was to determine the impacts of a multiple-day engineering-focused professional development program on elementary teachers’ perceptions of the work of engineers and their use of mathematics and science. Data were collected in the form of drawings of engineers prior to and immediately after the professional development program as well as an open-ended exit survey at the end of the program. Participants’ drawings were scored in the following areas: use of mathematics, use of science, and work of an engineer. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests revealed that the only significant change between measures was in ‘‘work of …


The Importance Of Collaborative Design For Narrowing The Gender Gap In Engineering: An Analysis Of Engineering Identity Development In Elementary Students, Mandy Mclean, Jasmine M. Nation, Alexis Spina, Tyler Susko, Danielle Harlow, Julie Bianchini Sep 2020

The Importance Of Collaborative Design For Narrowing The Gender Gap In Engineering: An Analysis Of Engineering Identity Development In Elementary Students, Mandy Mclean, Jasmine M. Nation, Alexis Spina, Tyler Susko, Danielle Harlow, Julie Bianchini

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

Research suggests that, to narrow the gender gap in engineering, we should focus on helping young girls identify with engineering both because gendered attitudes emerge around kindergarten and because identity is more predictive than performance on persistence in the field. This qualitative study sought to understand the impact of collaborative engineering design on the development of engineering identities in elementary-school students and compared the findings across gender. We focused on three tiers of collaboration embedded into the engineering design process: peer groups, role models, and shared goals. More specifically, the elementary students worked in small teams and partnered with undergraduate …


Outcome Expectations And Environmental Factors Associated With Engineering College-Going: A Case Study, Holly Matusovich, Andrew Gillen, Cheryl Carrico, David Knight, Jake Grohs Apr 2020

Outcome Expectations And Environmental Factors Associated With Engineering College-Going: A Case Study, Holly Matusovich, Andrew Gillen, Cheryl Carrico, David Knight, Jake Grohs

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

Family, school, and community contexts each link to secondary school enrollment, yet these factors have been comparatively examined only in limited ways. A holistic examination of contextual factors will be particularly important for engineering where college enrollment patterns vary by demographics. To begin explaining patterns of engineering college-going at different high schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia, we answered the following research questions: Within a single school system and from a socializer’s perspective, what outcome expectations and environmental factors influence students’ engineering-related postsecondary educational plans? How are these factors the same and different between high schools within a school district? …


Recognition And Positional Identity In An Elementary Professional Learning Community: A Case Study, Christopher G. Wright, Rasheda Likely, Kristen B. Wendell, Patricia P. Paugh, Elizabeth Smith Oct 2019

Recognition And Positional Identity In An Elementary Professional Learning Community: A Case Study, Christopher G. Wright, Rasheda Likely, Kristen B. Wendell, Patricia P. Paugh, Elizabeth Smith

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

Professional learning communities are typically conceived of as spaces for reducing teacher isolation, supporting informed and committed teachers, and fostering student academic gains. Focusing on a professional learning community that supported the teaching and learning of engineering in elementary schools, we also conceived of this learning environment as a space for negotiating a teacher-of- engineering identity. Calling attention to emergent issues of power and status through a lens of positional identity, this article examines a Black female educator’s sense of self as a teacher-of-engineering and how this perception was informed by participation in the professional learning community. Findings reveal that …


Engagement Opportunities At The United Way Of Greater Lafayette, Yechan Lim Oct 2019

Engagement Opportunities At The United Way Of Greater Lafayette, Yechan Lim

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

The United Way of Greater Lafayette is a non-for-profit that works to serve the community through programs, outreach, engagement, and fundraising. The United Way facility acts as a hub for many programs including Read to Succeed, Kindergarten Countdown Camp, and Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA). These programs help to address issues in the local community and provides volunteers opportunities to make a difference, while obtaining technical skills. YeChan Lim is a recent Master’s graduate in the Environmental and Ecological Engineering program.


Purdue Students In Tanzania: Establishing Connections Through 10 Years Of Service-Learning, Laura Duke, Madison Busch Oct 2019

Purdue Students In Tanzania: Establishing Connections Through 10 Years Of Service-Learning, Laura Duke, Madison Busch

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

For ten years, Dr. Jill Newton has coordinated the Maymester in Tanzania program and has created a highly successful and compelling program. Her aim for this program was to create a mini Peace Corps experience for Purdue University students, seeing as she has herself served as a Corps member in Papua New Guinea. One of the most impactful and rewarding components of this program is the service learning opportunities she encourages. Purdue University students attending this program have received a total of over $23,000 in service learning grants to date towards bettering the communities they interact with daily while on …


Weather Courtyard: Reflections On Interactive Stem Learning Spaces, Ryan Day Oct 2019

Weather Courtyard: Reflections On Interactive Stem Learning Spaces, Ryan Day

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

In this article, the author discusses his experiences in service-oriented engineering developing an interactive weather station for DCES students. Day details this process and the lessons learned over the course of the project development, as well as the project’s influence on his aspirations for a career in civil and environmental engineering. To provide substantive takeaways from the project, he concludes by reviewing the benefits of interactive STEM learning spaces in the instructional environment and links them to the impacts of the weather station project on the community.


The Effect Of Teacher Professional Development On Implementing Engineering In Elementary Schools, Teresa Porter, Meg E. West, Rachel L. Kajfez, Kathy L. Malone, Karen E. Irving Sep 2019

The Effect Of Teacher Professional Development On Implementing Engineering In Elementary Schools, Teresa Porter, Meg E. West, Rachel L. Kajfez, Kathy L. Malone, Karen E. Irving

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

Increased attention on the implementation of engineering education into elementary school classrooms aims to start preparing students early for potential engineering careers. In order to efficiently and effectively add engineering concepts to the curriculum, appropriate development and facilitation of engineering design challenges are required. Therefore, professional development programs are necessary to educate teachers about engineering and how to adequately teach it. This paper explores the effects of an engineering professional development program for practicing teachers. The program included training elementary teachers about how to implement units from Engineering is Elementary (EiE) by the Science Museum of Boston into their classes. …


Elementary Teachers’ Positive And Practical Risk-Taking When Teaching Science Through Engineering Design, Jeffrey Radloff, Brenda Capobianco, Annie Dooley Sep 2019

Elementary Teachers’ Positive And Practical Risk-Taking When Teaching Science Through Engineering Design, Jeffrey Radloff, Brenda Capobianco, Annie Dooley

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

This study examines the perspectives of three generations of elementary teachers learning to teach science using engineering design and the risks associated with implementing this innovative type of reform-based science instruction. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and teacher reflections. Data analysis entailed open coding and document analysis. The findings indicated that there were four types of perceived risks: practical, pedagogical, conceptual, and personal. First-generation teachers exhibited conceptual risk-taking behavior, while second- and third-generation teachers reported practical, pedagogical, and personal risks. Benefits of risk-taking included increased student engagement in science, improved self-confidence in teaching science, and greater teacher …


Project-Based Learning (Pjbl) In Three Southeastern Public Schools: Academic, Behavioral, And Social-Emotional Outcomes, Brooke T. Culclasure, Kyle C. Longest, Troy M. Terry Aug 2019

Project-Based Learning (Pjbl) In Three Southeastern Public Schools: Academic, Behavioral, And Social-Emotional Outcomes, Brooke T. Culclasure, Kyle C. Longest, Troy M. Terry

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Project-based learning (PjBL) as a PK–12 instructional model is growing nationwide. PjBL is seen as a mechanism to deliver academic content in a more engaging way for students and in a way that stresses the development of skills critical to success in the 21st-century workforce. Because of its increasing popularity and the disparate breadth of research around the model, a study of PjBL in three southeastern public schools was conducted during academic years 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. This study attempted to better understand how PjBL was implemented in schools and to explore the impact of PjBL on schools, teachers, and students. …


Refining An Instrument And Studying Elementary Teachers’ Understanding Of The Scope Of Engineering, Jacob Pleasants, Joanne K. Olson Mar 2019

Refining An Instrument And Studying Elementary Teachers’ Understanding Of The Scope Of Engineering, Jacob Pleasants, Joanne K. Olson

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

To effectively incorporate engineering into their instruction, K–12 teachers need sufficient knowledge of the engineering discipline. An important component of teachers’ engineering knowledge is their understanding of the nature of engineering: what engineers do, the epistemological underpinnings of engineering, and the relationships between engineering and other fields of study. In this study, we present a quantitative tool that was developed to assess teachers’ knowledge of a particular nature of engineering dimension: the scope of engineering, which describes the demarcation between engineering and non-engineering. This tool was used to assess the knowledge of teachers and engineering graduate students, before and after …


The Nature Of Teaching: An Engaged Approach To K12 Program Delivery, Rebecca Busse Mar 2019

The Nature Of Teaching: An Engaged Approach To K12 Program Delivery, Rebecca Busse

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.


National Chemistry Week In The Greater Lafayette Area: Chemistry Is Out Of This World!, Daniela Mesa Sanchez, Jessica Callus, Daisy Unsihuay Mar 2019

National Chemistry Week In The Greater Lafayette Area: Chemistry Is Out Of This World!, Daniela Mesa Sanchez, Jessica Callus, Daisy Unsihuay

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

National Chemistry Week (NCW), an outreach program initiated by the American Chemical Society (ACS), encourages scientists to bring their love of chemistry to the community. The Plutonium Chapter (Purdue University) of Iota Sigma Pi (ISP) organizes an annual celebration of this event in which over 1600 elementary school students are exposed to hands-on experiments related to the annual theme. In 2018, the theme was “Chemistry is Out of This World,” which allowed nearly a 100 volunteers to explore several space-themed experiments with children from three different school districts all over the Greater Lafayette area. Our poster outlines the preparation of …


Extending The Challenge Of Problem-Based Learning, Jessica J. Sullivan Feb 2019

Extending The Challenge Of Problem-Based Learning, Jessica J. Sullivan

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

No abstract provided.