Engineering in K-12 Education Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects (2009) / Chapter Skim
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5 Teaching and Learning Core Engineering Concepts and Skills in Grades K–12
5 Teaching and Learning Core Engineering Concepts and Skills in Grades K–12
Pages 119-148
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From page 119... ...
In response to these concerns, studies have been undertaken on a number of issues, including determining whether K–12 students, who have limited knowledge of basic mathematical concepts, can learn engineering concepts and skills and whether "positioning engineering design primarily as a tool for science learning runs the risk of misrepresenting .
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From page 120... ...
ENGINEERING CONCEPTS Engineers generally agree that the prototypical engineering process is design and redesign. However, engineering design is not the same as trial-and-error "gadgeteering." Engineering design involves the following essential components: identifying the problem; specifying requirements of the solution; decomposing the system; generating a solution; testing the solution; sketching and visualizing the solution; modeling and analyzing the solution; evaluating alternative solutions, as necessary; and optimizing the final design.
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From page 121... ...
The discussion of the concepts is divided into two categories: systems and optimization. As depicted in Table 5-1, the majority of empirical research on systems focuses on the concepts of SBF and emergent properties (i.e., behaviors that emerge from dynamic interactions among system components)
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From page 122... ...
suggests that functional considerations actually drive the design process for more experienced designers, who often label the framework FBS to reflect the change in emphasis. For our purposes, we distinguish between the three aspects of design without formally choosing their order of importance.
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From page 123... ...
In addition, early elementary students appear to lack sophisticated strategies for explicitly articulating causal mechanisms and for using mathematical representations as tools to represent complex causal behaviors. However, when children are provided explicit support for developing mathematical descriptions of natural systems, they can often use them to support their understanding of causal mechanisms (Lehrer et al., 2001)
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From page 124... ...
Teachers' questions that focus attention on design help students set step-wise, pragmatic goals for each revision, which deepens their understanding of SBF. With considerable teacher support, both early elementary students and middle school students can move toward a conceptual understanding that emphasizes function, just as experienced designers do (Penner et al., 1998)
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From page 125... ...
Based on their review of the literature, Silk and Schunn (2008) concluded that a major impediment to understanding the concept of emergent properties is the strong, perhaps innate, tendency of individuals to ascribe a central plan or single cause to system behavior (Resnick, 1996)
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From page 126... ...
As Resnick's concept of a centralized mindset suggests, most of the students, in fact most adults, prefer explanations based on a central control, single cause, and predictability. However, as the students tested their simulations with different starting parameters and refined their rules, and as Resnick continued to challenge their assumptions, they began to appreciate decentralized thinking and the concept of emergent properties.
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From page 127... ...
After reviewing the literature on cognitive reasoning, Silk and Schunn concluded that simulations in the classroom context can clarify connections between different levels of a system and help students transition from a strong tendency to attribute behaviors to central plans and/or single causes to a perspective more consistent with the concept of emergent properties. Investigations of how simulations influence the teaching of emergent properties include studies of the effects of life-sized, participatory simulations (e.g., Colella, 2000; Penner, 2001; Resnick and Wilensky, 1998)
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From page 128... ...
physical laws that determine how things work. Thus, optimization is a core concept that brings together many related engineering concepts, including trade-offs, requirements, resources, physical laws, social constraints, cultural norms, and side effects.
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From page 129... ...
. So, although students' capabilities almost certainly do improve over the course of their years in K–12, many aspects of real-world engineering design are beyond the cognitive processing limitations even of adults.
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From page 130... ...
In short, Silk and Schunn found that strategies for simplifying tasks by focusing on sub-problems and using external representations (physical and mathematical) are effective learning strategies in the K–12 setting that enable students to construct and evaluate complicated designs in systematic ways.
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From page 131... ...
. Although it is not clear how students transition toward understanding indirect relationships, which are more cognitively demanding, an understanding of direct relationships in a system may be a necessary precondition.
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Working on complex mathematical problems requires that students consider multiple paths and options in attempting to design optimal solutions. In another study, high-achieving sixth graders and college undergraduates were asked to develop individual business plans for a dunking booth at a
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From page 133... ...
In their integrative review of research results on the development of core engineering skills in K–12, the commissioned authors focused on skills related to design and redesign, which are the prototypical engineering processes (Petrosino et al., 2008)
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From page 134... ...
For example, drawing as part of a design activity has been described in an ethnographic study of design implementation for early elementary students in Australia in which students designed, made, and appraised vehicles (Rogers, 2000)
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(1997) conducted a study in which lower level elementary school students were asked to design functional models of elbows.
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. The reviews of the literature by the commissioned authors show that, although schoolchildren do not naturally use drawings and representations effectively in the design process, some classroom practices can have a positive impact on the way they use them.
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From page 137... ...
Fourth, nuanced forms of modeling require a long-term effort and are more likely to develop in students who build on successively complex experiences with modeling. Finally, although this is not usually done in traditional classrooms, critiquing and discussing their own models and those of other students can support students' understanding of engineering design.
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From page 138... ...
Although many students progress toward altering one variable at a time, many others consistently alter multiple variables.
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From page 139... ...
Teacher evaluations of students' designs can be taken as personal criticism, even when couched as a question, such as "How can this design be improved? " It is recommended, therefore, that teachers evaluate student designs via comparisons to the design drawing, which facilitates metacognition, or via comparison to the original design goals, which is a common practice in professional design and can lead to further optimization.
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From page 140... ...
, the demonstrated success of a number of the interventions reviewed here, even with students in early elementary grades, clearly shows that certain experiences can support relatively sophisticated understanding of engineering concepts and development of engineering skills. As this chapter makes clear, there are significant gaps in our understanding of how K–12 students learn and might best be taught engineering
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From page 141... ...
Sufficient Classroom Time for Extended Design Activities In every successful intervention we reviewed, significant learning resulted only after an extended time for design activities in a meaningful context. Core engineering ideas and skills cannot be developed in a single class period.
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From page 142... ...
This applies to learning both engineering concepts and engineering skills. Although this may seem obvious, the purpose of drawing attention to this principle is to encourage the reader to focus on specifying cognitive developmental trajectories for particular concepts.
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From page 143... ...
International Journal of Science Education 29(8)
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From page 144... ...
Pp. 143–148 in Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.
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From page 145... ...
2004. Toward Epistemologically Authentic Engineering Design Activities in the Science Classroom.
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From page 146... ...
1984. Using Classroom Observations to Improve Science Teaching and Curriculum Materials.
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From page 147... ...
Pp. 198–229 in Design Process Improvement -- A Review of Current Practice.
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