The Role of Experiential Learning and Engineering Design Process in K-12 Stem Education

Abstract

The STEM education emphasizes on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with a major focus on engineering design process that engineers require in solving challenges or problems. Kolb's model provides micro-learning activities such as experiencing, sharing and processing, generalizing and applying. Therefore, both Kolb's model and engineering design process are indispensable in K-12 STEM education. The K-12 STEM curriculum provides and guides students to complete a series of experiential tasks in engineering design process. Kolb's model explains how Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are connected and integrated in each task of engineering design, while the engineering design process is an effective pedagogical approach for students to learn how to solve real problems. The purpose of this study was to explore the positive role of Kolb's model and engineering design process in K-12 STEM education from the students' perspective. The results of experimental research with 32 middle school students showed that a series of experiential tasks in engineering design process are effective activities to cultivate knowledge construction, intrinsic motivation and satisfaction of students, and stimulate students' interest in STEM fields. Contribution/Originality: The paper is the first logical analysis of the combination of Kolb's experiential learning model and engineering design process in K12-STEM education system. The findings can act as a blueprint for educators to design interdisciplinary K12-STEM curriculum. 1. INTRODUCTION The STEM education emphasizes on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with a major focus on engineering design process which engineers require in solving challenges or problems. According to National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and National Research Council (NRC) (2014), STEM education can effectively support students' awareness of the role of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in modern society. The research results of Asghar, Ellington, Rice, Johnson, and Prime (2012) show that secondary teachers feel that engineering-based hands-on activities would be particularly useful to students who wish to master math and science concepts. Margot and Kettler (2019) imply that teaching through engineering design process is an effective approach to integrate the subjects using a project-based approach as a STEM pedagogy. There are various forms of engineering design processes, but they require a cyclical process to solve a real-world problem (Margot & Kettler, 2019). However, secondary teachers notes that they have difficulty teaching science concepts as well when utilizing

A comparison of three stem approaches to the teaching and learning of science topics: Students’ knowledge and scientific creativity

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