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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
An Investigation Of Engineering Design Cognition And Achievement In Primary School, Greg J. Strimel, Scott R. Bartholomew, Eunhye Kim, Liwei Zhang
An Investigation Of Engineering Design Cognition And Achievement In Primary School, Greg J. Strimel, Scott R. Bartholomew, Eunhye Kim, Liwei Zhang
Faculty Publications
This study examined the design cognition and achievement results of both kindergarten and fourth grade students engaged in engineering design-based instructional activities. Relationships between design cognition and student grade level, as well as quality of student work, were investigated. 30 concurrent think-aloud protocols were collected from individual primary students as they worked in groups to design and make a solution to a design task. The concurrent think-aloud protocols were examined and coded to determine the duration of time the participants devoted to a pre-established set of mental processes for technological problem solving. Significant differences between kindergarten and fourth grade participants …
Design Assessment: Consumer Reports Style, Todd R. Kelley
Design Assessment: Consumer Reports Style, Todd R. Kelley
Publications
The article analyzes a design assessment-based activity, in which students are asked to evaluate an existing technology through a Consumer Reports-style approach. According to H. Petroski, the exposure of students to several design examples is important to start learning the basic elements needed in the design process. It claims that the activity will enable students to sharpen their knowledge in several areas including identifying design constraints and criteria, training via study of open designs, and practicing engineering design methods for optimization. It suggests that these are important skills for creating the student's capacity to undertake bigger design activities.