Engineering Education Commons^™

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 …

Transforming Technology & Engineering Educator Inputs Into Desired Student Outputs Through Mechanism Analysis And Synthesis, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The intention of this article is to provide middle and high school Technology and Engineering Educators (T&EEs) with a more thorough understanding of an engineering approach to the teaching and learning of mechanics. During the teaching and learning of engineering content, in this case mechanics, the educator should attempt to align pedagogical content knowledge with engineering content knowledge and practices. T&EEs will also need to focus on terminology, structure, and applying theory to practical hands-on learning activities inside and outside of the classroom. T&EEs have the potential to foster middle and high school students’ mechanical knowledge and the ability to …

Scope Process: Fostering Students' Design Outcome Effectiveness, Andrew J. Hughes, Cameron D. Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to help Technology and Engineering Educators scaffold engineering design and problem-solving experiences so that students taking technology and engineering courses will develop an improved ability to design. Technology and Engineering Education seems to increasingly focus on problem-solving, design, and engineering. Technology and Engineering Education is not the only discipline with this focus. The fact that both Science and Technology and Engineering Education are similarly focused on the teaching and learning of engineering begs the question of what separates technology and engineering educators from science educators in the teaching of engineering? Lewis (2004) cautioned that …

Mechanism Design And Analysis: Developing An Understanding Of Mechanism Motion Through Graphical Modeling, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The intention of this article is to provide Technology and Engineering Educators with foundational knowledge of mechanism design and analysis and the ability to develop middle and high school students' mechanism knowledge during practical hands-on learning activities in the STEM classroom. Technology and Engineering Educators' implementation of mechanism design and analysis could promote students' increased depth of mechanical knowledge and ability to apply this knowledge during engineering design challenges. In this article, the authors present an introduction to four-bar mechanism design and analysis using CAD software to produce graphical representations. After designing mechanisms graphical, students should be allowed to produce …

Making Makers: Tracing Stem Identity In Rural Communities, Jessie Nixon, Andy Stoiber, Erica Halverson, Michael Dando

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

In this article, we describe efforts to reduce barriers of entry to pre-college engineering in a rural community by training local teens to become maker-mentors and staff a mobile makerspace in their community. We bring a communities of practice frame to our inquiry, focusing on inbound and peripheral learning and identity trajectories as a mechanism for representing the maker-mentor experience. Through a longitudinal case study, we traced the individual trajectories of five maker-mentors over two years. We found a collection of interrelated factors present in those students who maintained inbound trajectories and those who remained on the periphery. Our research …

Funds Of Knowledge As Pre-College Experiences That Promote Minoritized Students’ Interest, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, And Choice Of Majoring In Engineering, Dina Verdín, Jessica M. Smith, Juan Lucena

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

Pre-college experiences both inside and outside of the classroom inform students’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related activities, help them evaluate their knowledge and skills in various tasks, and shape their perceptions of themselves as individuals who can participate in STEM. Yet little empirical research examines the valuable pre-college knowledge, practices, and skills that minoritized students acquire through their home experiences and how they can support students’ transition into an engineering pathway. This study addresses this gap by investigating how students’ funds of knowledge support their interest in engineering, self-efficacy beliefs, and certainty of pursuing an engineering major. …

Real-Life Conundrums In The Struggle For Institutional Transformation, Julia Mcquillan, Nestor Hernandez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Intersecting systems of inequality (i.e., gender and race/ethnicity) are remarkably resistant to change. Many universities, however, seek National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation awards to change processes, procedures, and cultures to make science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments more inclusive. In this article we describe a case study with observations for eight years of before (2000–2007), five during (2008–2013), and seven after (2014–2020) intensive efforts to increase women through reducing barriers and increasing access to women. Finally, we reflect on flawed assumptions built into the proposal, the slow and uneven change in the proportion of women over time, the strengths …

The Ingenuity Of Everyday Practice: A Framework For Justice-Centered Identity Work In Engineering In The Middle Grades, Angela M. Calabrese Barton, Kathleen Schenkel, Edna Tan

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

Inequities in opportunities to learn and become in engineering, especially for minoritized youth, are enduring and systemic. How students experience engineering education, through curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher/student interactions, all shape opportunities for identity development. In this paper we draw upon cultural studies and critical ethnography to explore how and why students engage in engineering for sustainable communities and its relationship to their identity work. We ground our work in a justice-centered asset-based stance that centers how people’s lived lives and community wisdom yield powerful forms of cultural knowledge/practice relevant to learning and engaging in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We …

Stem Education In The Early Childhood Classroom, Julia Biagiotti

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This qualitative study focuses on the type of STEM education students are getting at the early childhood level (PK-2). Based on gaps found in literature, an interview protocol was created and six participants with various careers in the field of STEM education were interviewed. The research was concentrated on trying to determine what components of STEM education make it successful in the early childhood classroom. All of the interview responses were analyzed and coded and determined the results found below. A few integral parts of a successful STEM education seem to be curiosity, asking questions and a hands-on component, but …

Contributing To Engineering Colleges Students' Development Through Out-Of-Class Involvement: A Survey Of Chinese Private Colleges' Engineering Students, Wanlu Li

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the primary characteristics of engineering college students’ involvement in out-of-class activities (OA) at one private college in China through the use of the translated and culturally adapted Chinese version of the Postsecondary Student Engagement Survey (PosSES 2.1). This study provides the statistical analyses of the survey data completed by 283 senior engineering students on their perceptions about their levels of involvement related to positive/negative outcomes students perceive and affective engagement. Data results showed all levels of involvement have a significant influence on positive outcomes. Besides, active involvement degree, hours, and types of …

Unsupervised Data Mining Technique For Clustering Library In Indonesia, Robbi Rahim, Joseph Teguh Santoso, Sri Jumini, Gita Widi Bhawika, Daniel Susilo, Danny Wibowo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Organizing school libraries not only keeps library materials, but helps students and teachers in completing tasks in the teaching process so that national development goals are in order to improve community welfare by producing quality and competitive human resources. The purpose of this study is to analyze the Unsupervised Learning technique in conducting cluster mapping of the number of libraries at education levels in Indonesia. The data source was obtained from the Ministry of Education and Culture which was processed by the Central Statistics Agency (abbreviated as BPS) with url: bps.go.id/. The data consisted of 34 records where the attribute …

Teaching Learning Newsletter Vol 1 Issue 2, Sastra Deemed To Be University

TLC Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Scaffolding Middle And High School Students’ Engineering Design Experiences: Quality Problem-Scopeing Promoting Successful Solutions, Andrew Hughes, Cameron Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Highly proficient expert engineers begin the iterative process of design by thoroughly investigating the design problem. Engineering students are often distracted by surface details, leading to a faulty conception of the problem and inappropriate solution strategies. Adequate problem-scoping is arguably the most important step in the design process. To address this issue, the researchers developed an instructional framework to help teachers scaffold students’ cognitive and metacognitive processes during the problem-scoping phase of a design challenge. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the impact that scaffolded instruction related to the SCOPE process had on students’ solution success during …

Designing An Integrated Stem Semester For Pre-Service Elementary Teachers, Amanda Thomas, Matt Flores, Michael Hart, Elizabeth Hasseler, Tammera Mittelstet, Danae Peterson, Amy Sokoll Bauer

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Teacher educators in an undergraduate elementary teacher certification program at a large university in the United States redesigned the traditional program to integrate STEM learning across multiple courses. During this Integrated STEM Semester, typically taken during the fifth semester of the undergraduate program, pre-service teachers (PSTs) enroll in mathematics content, mathematics methods, science methods, instructional technology, and practicum courses.

Preface And Acknowledgments, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan, Siddika Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

Contents, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan, Siddika Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

How Does An Integrated Stem Life Sciences Unit Affect Middle School Students' Engagement And Science Content Knowledge?, Zeynep Gonca Akdemir, Muhsin Menekse, Saira Anwar, Siddika Selcen Guzey

Indiana STEM Education Conference

This study explored the effect of an integrated engineering design-based life sciences unit on middle school students' engagement and science content knowledge, and the role of engagement in predicting their success. Participants were 530 seventh-grade students from rural schools in the Midwest region of the United States. Data included science content pre- and post-assessments and a multidimensional engagement survey. The data were analyzed by conducting paired-sample t-tests and multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that students' social engagement increased when they engaged in an integrated engineering design-based life science curriculum unit. Also, students’ pre-assessment scores were found to be the …

Goals And Proceedings Information, William S. Walker Iii, Lynn A. Bryan, Siddika Selcen Guzey, Elizabeth Suazo-Flores

Indiana STEM Education Conference

No abstract provided.

Mentoring Prospective Engineering Students Through The After School Program "Girls In Engineering" Focused On Building An Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, Vukica M. Jovanović, Deborah Marshall, Jeff Warren Larson Jr., Abdul Rahman Badawi, Neil R. Stclair, Otilia Popescu, Murat Kuzlu, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Linda Vahala, Michael Anthony Crespo

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

A number of studies by engineering education researchers have pointed out that all-female teams, rather than mixed teams, result in better forms of participation and interaction in engineering related after-school programs and clubs. In particular, for after-school programs or clubs that form in response to a STEM competition, all-female teams have better chances of developing. One such competition, which will be discussed in this paper, is a regional Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) competition in which students from Blind_Review High School have been participating for many years.For each year’s competition, an all-female team of students enrolled in the Career and …

Nature Of Problem-Solving Skills For 21st Century Stem Learners: What Teachers Need To Know, Paul Nnanyereugo Iwuanyanwu

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Since the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution which calls for a new model of learning for the twenty-first century learners, it has been argued that the nature of problems that learners must solve in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) must also be transformed to enable new forms of learning skills that are needed to tackle complex global challenges. However, the question of how best to teach these skills purposefully and explicitly is largely overlooked. STEM education reformers recognize that the lecture method or traditional method of teaching is highly ineffective for teaching twenty-first century competencies and skills that …

Standards For Technological And Engineering Literacy: Addressing Trends And Issues Facing Technology And Engineering Education, Johnny J. Moye, Philip A. Reed

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article offers information on addressing trends and issues facing technology and engineering education. It mentions future challenges, students need to "have a broad conceptual understanding of technology and its place in society, enabling them to be active participants in the technological world and careful creators and users of technology.

Investigating Factors Predicting Effective Learning In A Cs Professional Development Program For K–12 Teachers, Patrick Morrow

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The demand for K-12 Computer Science (CS) education is growing and there is not an adequate number of educators to match the demand. Comprehensive research was carried out to investigate and understand the influence of a summer two-week professional development (PD) program on teachers’ CS content and pedagogical knowledge, their confidence in such knowledge, their interest in and perceived value of CS, and the factors influencing such impacts. Two courses designed to train K-12 teachers to teach CS, focusing on both concepts and pedagogy skills were taught over two separate summers to two separate cohorts of teachers. Statistical and SWOT …

Method Of Joints: Theory And Practice Of Designing, Building, And Testing Trusses, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The authors of this article, like many of us, are proponents of engineering education but are also proponents of shop skills, craftsmanship, technological literacy, and the tacit knowledge and skills developed through applying sound theories during practical hands-on learning. The authors believe that engineering is an important aspect of our discipline, but so are the application of thinking, tool skills, measurement, geometric construction, manufacturing, instrumentation, testing and analysis, mathematical and scientific theories, and many other hands-on, minds-on skillsets that all need to maintain association with our discipline. As the authors are proponents for engineering education that is done well, they …

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 Impact Of A Smartlab Implementation On Rural Schools In North Dakota, Tonya M. Greywind

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This mixed methods quasi-experimental phenomenological study investigated the impact that a SmartLab® implementation had on four rural schools in the state of North Dakota. This study featured semi structured interview questions for facilitators, semi-structured focus group questions for students, and a digital literacy pre and post assessment (DLA) that was administered to students. This study looked at student learning in terms of twenty-first century skills, teacher and student perspectives in terms of student learning as well as teacher perspectives on the impact of the SmartLab® on their own teaching methods.

Two facilitators from two of the four schools were interviewed …

Understanding Early Childhood Engineering Interest Development As A Family-Level Systems Phenomenon: Findings From The Head Start On Engineering Project, Scott Pattison, Gina Svarovsky, Smirla Ramos-MontañEz, Ivel Gontan, Shannon Weiss, VeróNika NúÑEz, Pam Corrie, Cynthia Smith, Marcie Benne

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

There is growing recognition that interest is critical for engaging and supporting learners from diverse communities in engineering and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. Although interest research has historically focused on older children, studies demonstrate that preschool-age and younger children also develop persistent, individualized interests in different objects, activities, and topics and that these early interests have important implications for ongoing learning and development. Unfortunately, there is relatively little research on engineering learning in early childhood and almost no work specific to the concept of interest. To begin to address this need, we conducted in-depth case study …

Design Of A Shallow-Aero Ebb And Flow Hydroponics System And Associated Educational Module For Tri Cycle Farms, Julie Halveland

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tri Cycle Farms, whose main mission is to reduce food insecurity in their community, is a non- profit urban farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The “Tri” in their name refers to the three parts of their foundation: giving a third of their yield to volunteers, giving a third to local food pantries, and selling a third to sustain the farm and demonstrate the economy of local food production. They want to expand on the third part and have a vision of building a hydroponic greenhouse with the intention that it will create more crops to sell and give, as well as …

Seventh-Grade Students' Use Of Heat Transfer Conceptions During An Engineering Design-Based Stem Integration Curriculum, Emilie A. Siverling, Tamara J. Moore

Integrated Engineering Department Publications

As the integration of STEM becomes increasingly important in pre-college education, it is important to study models of STEM integration. One model, engineering design-based STEM integration, has shown promising results in terms of student science content learning. This study’s purpose was to explore one student team’s use of heat transfer conceptions as they participated in an engineering design-based STEM integration curriculum. A case study research design, along with procedures from qualitative content analysis, were used to identify scientific and alternative conceptions that the seventh-grade students communicated during the unit. The main result is that the students spoke and wrote about …

What's The Buzz?, Christine L. Moskalik

Professional Learning Day

A fun, interdisciplinary, hands-on activity with circuits, engineering, and bees Teachers will learn how to implement an activity with their students to explore circuit basics, energy transfer, and pollination through a hands-on toothbrush-bot activity that is coupled with a fun storyline involving honey bee communication and behavior.

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …