STEM learning through engineering design: fourth-grade students’ investigations in aerospace

Abstract

Background: Internationally, there is a growing concern for developing STEM education to prepare students for a scientifically and technologically advanced society. Despite educational bodies lobbying for an increased focus on STEM, there is limited research on how engineering might be incorporated especially in the elementary school curriculum. A framework of five comprehensive core engineering design processes (problem scoping, idea generation, design and construction, design evaluation, redesign), adapted from the literature on design thinking in young children, served as a basis for the study. We report on a qualitative study of fourth-grade students' developments in working an aerospace problem, which took place during the first year of a 3-year longitudinal study. Students applied design processes together with their mathematics and science knowledge to the design and redesign of a 3-D model plane. Results: The study shows that through an aerospace engineering problem, students could complete initial designs and redesigns of a model plane at varying levels of sophistication. Three levels of increasing sophistication in students' sketches were identified in their designs and redesigns. The second level was the most prevalent involving drawings or templates of planes together with an indication of how to fold the materials as well as measurements linked to the plane's construction. The third level incorporated written instructions and calculations. Students' engagement with each of the framework's design processes revealed problem scoping components in their initial designs and redesigns. Furthermore, students' recommendations for improving their launching techniques revealed an ability to apply their mathematics knowledge in conjunction with their science learning on the forces of flight. Students' addition of context was evident together with an awareness of constraints and a consideration of what was feasible in their design creation. Interestingly, students' application of disciplinary knowledge occurred more frequently in the last two phases of the engineering framework (i.e., design evaluation and redesign), highlighting the need for students to reach these final phases to enable the science and mathematics ideas to emerge.

STEM based learning to facilitate middle school students’ conceptual change, creativity and collaboration in organization of living system topic

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“…This indicates that students were able to perform the design process [28]. In STEM-based learning, students had possessed the potentials to create design and redesign [28]. Through the design process, the students were involved in the initial engineering process, in which they could implement their STEM knowledge.…”

Supporting integrated STEM in the elementary classroom: a professional development approach centered on an engineering design challenge

“…Despite the increasing interest in providing learning experiences that help students make connections across the STEM disciplines, there is limited research on which of the different STEM integration approaches best facilitate these connections and what factors make integration more likely to increase student learning, interest, or achievement in STEM (English and King, 2015;National Research Council, 2014). Additionally, while integration is not a new idea, STEM content has historically been taught in a siloed-manner that can make the recommended approaches of integrating across specific disciplines more challenging (Bybee 2010; National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council 2009;National Research Council 2014,).…”

“…Research, even in its infancy, indicates that the inclusion of engineering experiences within the STEM curriculum can develop young students' understanding of the various roles of engineering within the society as well as helping to enhance achievement, motivation, and problem solving by contextualizing mathematics and science content (Brophy et al 2008;English and King 2015;Stohlmann et al 2012). Elementary classrooms, therefore, provide a powerful environment for STEM implementation and learning.…”

Kimya Öğretmen Adaylarının FeTeMM Uygulamaları Hakkındaki Görüşlerinin İncelenmesi

“…FeTeMM eğitimi denildiğinde maalesef farklı kişiler farklı tanımlar ortaya koymakta ve dolayısıyla farklı yorumlar ortaya çıkmaktadır (English ve King, 2015). "FeTeMM kısaltması, bu alanda çalışanlar için bile muğlak bir kısaltmadır" (Sanders, 2009, s. 20).…”