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Full-Text Articles in Education

Educational Robotics And Computational Thinking In Elementary School Students, Sonia D. Jordan Dec 2023

Educational Robotics And Computational Thinking In Elementary School Students, Sonia D. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the role of educational robotics in fostering computational thinking in elementary settings, both in classrooms and extracurricular programs. Among growing concerns over K–12 students’ computational thinking deficits, the research evaluated the impact of Lego EV3 and VEX IQ platforms. Data was sourced from lesson plans, student work surveys, and teacher interviews and then subjected to thematic analysis using a qualitative approach. The participants were Texas educators engaged in robotics instruction, even though specific robotics statistics are absent in the Texas Education Agency. Instructional strategies varied from hands-on experiences to translating mathematical concepts into robotic actions. A key …


Imagination To Innovation: Design Thinking For Young Learners, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong Oct 2023

Imagination To Innovation: Design Thinking For Young Learners, Lindsey Herlehy, Cassandra Armstrong

Publications & Research

Design thinking is the intersection of engineering design and social-emotional learning. Today’s learners must be empathetic problem solvers capable of defining problems and designing appropriate solutions to meet the needs of the user. In this session, participants will experience design thinking through literature-based scenarios appropriate for early learners. They will analyze and compare their own models to those of others and compose a lesson that will engage students in the design thinking process.


Families Engineering Together In Communities And At Home: Facilitation Guide, Amber Simpson, Adam V. Maltese, Peter Knox, Jungsun Kim, Jing Yang, Sawsan Werfelli, Kelli Paul, Monika Mayer Oct 2023

Families Engineering Together In Communities And At Home: Facilitation Guide, Amber Simpson, Adam V. Maltese, Peter Knox, Jungsun Kim, Jing Yang, Sawsan Werfelli, Kelli Paul, Monika Mayer

Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership Faculty Scholarship

In this publication, we present a program that serves as a bridge between families and learning environments of all kinds, and provides a pathway for engineering design to be incorporated into the everyday lives of families and kids. Supporting families in their home environment, the program offers a fun and approachable introduction to thinking about engineering and bringing these concepts to life. Conversation and engagement between children and caregivers is so important during elementary school years - this program encourages families to think about, discuss, and experience engineering in a fun and accessible way in their home and community environments. …


Streaming With Butterflies: A Whole School Stream Project, Carey L. Averill, Janet M. Herrelko Jan 2023

Streaming With Butterflies: A Whole School Stream Project, Carey L. Averill, Janet M. Herrelko

Journal of Catholic Education

This study explores the commitment of a school faculty to use the pedagogical practices needed to employ a project-based unit of Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM). The unit of study concentrated on environmental sustainability of butterflies through project-based learning (PBL). Teacher interviews were analyzed to reveal the similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses in the teachers’ reactions to implementing a cross-curricula content unit designed for a pre-kindergarten (PK) to eighth grade school. Analysis of teacher data and classroom artifacts provided evidence of: content mastery at the student levels; implementation of scaffolding for developmental levels; and the need …


Elementary Science & Engineering Teaching Methods, David Crismond Jul 2022

Elementary Science & Engineering Teaching Methods, David Crismond

Open Educational Resources

Syllabus for EDCE 42000 Elementary Science & Engineering Teaching Methods


Steam Explores Project Based Assessments, Erica Luvone, Loretta Radulic, Joe Mondanaro, Nicole Acevedo, Erika Dent, Ann Rhodes Apr 2022

Steam Explores Project Based Assessments, Erica Luvone, Loretta Radulic, Joe Mondanaro, Nicole Acevedo, Erika Dent, Ann Rhodes

STEM Month

This year, our approach to STEAM explores project based assessments in the disciplines of science and social studies. Students work in groups to produce projects that showcase work and proficiency. These projects are presented, displayed, discussed, and revisited or revised at student discretion.


Elementary Preservice Teachers Self-Efficacy And Confidence Teaching Engineering, Andrea Perrin Jan 2022

Elementary Preservice Teachers Self-Efficacy And Confidence Teaching Engineering, Andrea Perrin

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

Engineering has become a popular topic within science standards in recent years. However, many teachers do not have experience teaching or doing engineering. With the possibility of engineering becoming a major part of the science curriculum, it is important that teachers are prepared and well equipped to teach and instruct engineering activities, lessons, and support. This quantitative study studied elementary preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and confidence with teaching engineering in the classroom after experiencing and teaching engineering activities. Overall, the implementation of the engineering activities had both positive and negative impacts on preservice teachers’ perceptions of themselves and teaching engineering in …


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 …


An Investigation Of The Effects Of Self-Efficacy On Stem Implementation, Caroline Buechel May 2021

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Self-Efficacy On Stem Implementation, Caroline Buechel

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

In order to equip students with the 21st Century skills necessary for today’s society, STEM education must be properly implemented in school curricula (Lamb, Akmal, & Petrie, 2015). To do so, it is important for teachers to possess both proficient knowledge of the subject matter and confidence towards the implementation of STEM. A person’s beliefs about their ability is known as their self-efficacy (Bandura 1997). Related to education, Bandura notes that this self-efficacy affects a teacher’s views on their ability to handle tasks, obligations, and challenges related to a challenge (1997). Additionally, numerous studies indicate that this self-efficacy in …


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? …


Stem Opportunities - High School 2019, Huey-Xian Kelly Wong, Madeleine Rauhauser, Annie Morgan Nelson Aug 2019

Stem Opportunities - High School 2019, Huey-Xian Kelly Wong, Madeleine Rauhauser, Annie Morgan Nelson

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This publication details the lesson plan for the “Opportunities in STEM” club for the summer of 2019. This club began out of a desire to educate high school students about the opportunities and careers available in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Often, students feel that the prospect of entering a STEM field is daunting and out of their grasp. What it means to be a scientist is often unclear, and students never consider opportunities out of the fear of the unknown, particularly when science is associated with complexity and difficulty. This lesson plan integrates experiments with a wealth …


Comparing Science/Technology/Engineering Mcas Scores To Math And English Language Arts In Different Demographics, Kiley Camara May 2019

Comparing Science/Technology/Engineering Mcas Scores To Math And English Language Arts In Different Demographics, Kiley Camara

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In the United States, standardized tests are used to ensure that students are provided with the same essential knowledge their peers are getting. Standardized tests not only show children’s academic performance, but also demonstrate how the teachers are performing in comparison to other schools. The No Child Left Behind Act was created to help schools provide adequate resources for both the teachers and students in higher need schools. Massachusetts’ standardized tests are called the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System). The MCAS allows the Commonwealth to evaluate each school’s and district’s results in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science/Engineering/Technology in the …


Sustainability Children's Book, Linden Cheek May 2018

Sustainability Children's Book, Linden Cheek

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

As human driven climate change continues to alter our planet, persuading the general public to adopt sustainable living practices has become increasingly important. Storytelling has long been a part of human culture, and recent studies have emphasized the power of storytelling to influence the audience as a means of changing behavior. This project attempted to teach sustainable principles to primary school children through the creation of a scientific children’s book. The book communicated the maxim of “reduce, reuse, recycle” by tracing a fictitious story of a town where children frequently buy new toys and throw the old toys away. The …


Coupling K-12 Music Education With Science, Technology, Engineering And Math (Stem) Curricula: Implementation Of A Stemusic Outreach Program, Mallory Maestri Dec 2017

Coupling K-12 Music Education With Science, Technology, Engineering And Math (Stem) Curricula: Implementation Of A Stemusic Outreach Program, Mallory Maestri

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many studies have investigated the effects of music on evoking human emotions and diverse types of brain responses. One study by Juslin and Vastfjall indicates that hearing music can stimulate brain stem reflexes, create emotional contagion, recall episodic memories and provoke visual imagery. Due to the influence music has on human brain waves, researchers have been studying the effect of music on enhancing the spatial abilities of young students. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) professions rely heavily on spatial skills. Research on the connection of music with spatial skills proposes that when the brain processes rhythm a “mental rotation” …


Engaging Children In Engineering Design Through The World Of Quadcopters, Greg J. Strimel, Scott R. Bartholomew, Eunhye Kim May 2017

Engaging Children In Engineering Design Through The World Of Quadcopters, Greg J. Strimel, Scott R. Bartholomew, Eunhye Kim

Faculty Publications

The interest in engineering education for K-12 students has been rising (Carr, Bennett IV, & Strobel, 2012; Strimel, Grubbs, & Wells, 2016), and the importance of engineering education is discussed as early as the elementary school level (Hegedus, 2014). Petroski (2003) claims that children are ready to learn engineering because their play activities are similar to engineering and design activities, such as making, moving, and rearranging things. Studies have examined how elementary school students perceive engineering or engineers (Cunningham, Lachapelle, & Lindgren-Streicher 2005) and found that elementary-aged students associated engineering with repairing, installing, driving, constructing, and improving machines and devices. …