Publication

The pivotal 2009 National Academy of Engineering report on engineering in K-12 education states that the presence of engineering in pre-college education is an important phenomenon because of engineering’s impact on K-12 STEM education. The NAE report then explores a number of questions about the ways in which engineering is taught in K-12 classrooms, including issues such as the curricular and instructional resources used, interaction with other STEM subjects, and teacher preparation. This paper explores these and related questions surrounding the adoption of non-traditional engineering projects into diverse middle and high school classrooms from the perspective of an engineering, science, and IT-focused project that features a challenge-based underwater robotics curriculum using LEGO®, Mindstorms and the NXT-G programming device. Data from teachers who implemented this project over two years suggest that their rationales for undertaking a complex engineering design curriculum include opportunities to expose students to engaging activities that simultaneously meet curricular objectives and that address certain 21st century skills. Their challenges include their own level of relevant content knowledge and IT experience, as well as time, facilities, equipment, and classroom management constraints. Teachers’ feedback formed the basis for the development of streamlined curricula, just-in-time online learning modules, and other resources to aid implementation and enhance learning. Lessons learned from this project are informing the development and implementation of a scale-up project in four U.S. cities in girl-focused informal education programs and in disadvantaged schools.  

BISU presentation at the American Society for the Engineering Education, Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 2011.