The honeycomb of engineering framework: Philosophy of engineering guiding precollege engineering education

Abstract

Background: Understanding the nature of engineering is important for shaping engineering education, especially precollege education. While much research has established the pedagogical benefits of teaching engineering in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12), the philosophical foundations of engineering remain under-examined.Purpose: This conceptual paper introduces the honeycomb of engineering framework, which offers an epistemologically justified theoretical position and a pedagogical lens that can be used to examine ways engineering concepts and practices are taught in precollege education.Scope/Method: The honeycomb of engineering was developed as a descriptive framework by examining existing literature over a wide range of related disciplines such as the philosophy of engineering and technology, as well as design thinking and practice. The pedagogical translation of the framework was then developed to examine published precollege engineering curricula. Results:The framework categorizes the multiple goals of engineering using an ontological classification of engineering inquiries anchored in the central practice of negotiating risks and benefits (i.e., trade-offs). This framework also illustrates the adaptability of design methodology in guiding six inquiries:(1) user-centered design, (2) design-build-test, (3) engineering science, (4) optimization, (5) engineering analysis, and (6) reverse engineering. The published curricula represented these inquiries with varying degrees, with design-buildtest lessons seeing the most representation followed by user-centered design. Conclusions:The honeycomb of engineering framework delineates variations in engineering education based on an epistemological explanation. The pedagogical translations offer guidance to educators, researchers, and curriculum designers for differentiating curricular aims and learning outcomes resulting from participation in different engineering inquiries.

The effectiveness of an integratedSTEMcurriculum unit on middle school students' life science learning

“…The authors argued that applying a situated perspective on engineering learning could also shape research on engineering education and allow for significant contributions to advance our understanding of learning. Through our review of these studies and the emerging body of scholarship devoted to integrating the STEM disciplines (e.g., Bryan et al, 2015; Moore et al, 2014; NAE/NRC, 2014; Purzer et al, 2022), we synthesized five distinguishing characteristics of integrated STEM education. These five characteristics guided our design of integrated STEM instruction and curriculum development in this study and are summarized below [adapted from Bryan et al, 2015]: The content and practices of one or more anchor STEM disciplines define the primary learning goals : Anchor disciplines are the fundamental disciplines from which the primary learning goals for instruction are derived.…”

Where’s the value in engineering?

“…In our research we observed that many engineers, perhaps most, have difficulty explaining how their work creates economic and social value [3]. This inspired a series of studies to understand how engineers generate significant economic and social value from routine activities that do not necessarily require innovation [4], complementing existing entrepreneurship models [5].…”

“…We first suggest that engineering schools help students learn from research-based explanations on how they will contribute economic and social value as engineers as outlined in this paper. This can help rebuild awareness on the critical nexus between technical engineering and economics [5]. This could be reinforced by helping faculty staff understand how their work contributes economic and social benefits, so that they can, in turn, better inform students on how their classroom learning will contribute to practice.…”

Rethinking the Nature of Engineering: Attending to the Social Context of Engineering

“…Looking ahead, the question is how this aspect of the NOE might be taught in in the context of precollege engineering instruction. Perhaps this could be done by taking a “reverse engineering” approach (Purzer et al, 2022 ). For instance, students might examine the products created by a company that claims to value sustainability.…”