Resources

This entry describes technologies that support engineering education, such as 3D printing, computer-assisted design, electromechanical systems and instrumentation, and control systems. Engineering education is one of four disciplines within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. While science and mathematics are commonly regarded as core subjects in schools, engineering has had a less prominent role in K–12 education. However, engineering is increasingly used to teach science in context. This can increase students’ depth of understanding, allowing them to apply

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a one-week App Inventor summer camp for middle school students with an explicit focus on addressing local community needs. The community focus of the camp was designed to appeal to a broad range of students. We conducted an in-depth interview study to examine its impact on students' attitudes and perceptions, and supplemented this with results from project evaluation. Our results indicate that students had positive experiences in learning and creating real apps for solving community problems. Focusing on local community needs can also help to

Data gathered from 325 middle school students in four U.S. states indicate that both male (p < .0005, RSQ = .33) and female (p < .0005, RSQ = .36) career aspirations for being a scientist are predictable based on knowledge of dispositions toward mathematics, science and engineering, plus self-reported creative tendencies. For males, strong predictors are creative tendencies (beta = .348) and dispositions toward science (beta = .326), while dispositions toward mathematics is a weaker (beta = .137) but still a significant (p < .05) predictor. For females, significant (p < .05) predictors ordered

This article and my career as an educational researcher are grounded in two fundamental assumptions: (a) that research and practice can and should live in productive synergy, with each enhancing the other, and (b) that research focused on teaching and learning in a particular discipline can, if carefully framed, yield insights that have implications across a broad spectrum of disciplines. This article begins by describing in brief two bodies of work that exemplify these two fundamental assumptions. I then elaborate on a third example, the development of a new set of tools for understanding and

This chapter discusses findings from a National Science Foundation (NSF) project funded by the Innovative Technologies Experiences for Student and Teachers (ITEST) program. The project has an ongoing research agenda focusing on the impact of robotics summer camps and competitions targeted at middle school youth. The research focused on the impact of the interventions on youth a) learning of computer programming, mathematics, and engineering concepts, b) science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) attitudes, c) workplace skills, and d) STEM career interest. Results show that robotics

A sentiment held by Dewey and shared by other educators is that learning should enrich and expand everyday experience. However, this goal has not been a focus of research. In this article, I propose transformative experience as a construct capable of reflecting this goal and functioning as an empirical research construct. I discuss the theoretical grounding for this construct in the work of Dewey and define it in terms of three characteristics: (a) motivated use, (b) expansion of perception, and (c) experiential value. In doing so, I describe how transformative experience integrates current

Many preservice teachers struggle in science courses and foster anxieties regarding science instruction in their future classrooms. Providing time and support for preservice teachers to teach science in an after-school classroom through service learning allows them to build a science learning environment outside the formal school day. In this alternative learning space, student dialogue can enhance learning in science while also improving preservice teachers’ confidence and enthusiasm to teach science. SCI-TALKS, a program that integrates service learning and science methods instruction

The proliferation of new technologies has changed the way we live, learn, and work. Although the future of work is unclear, thought leaders, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), assert that artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, robotics, and machine learning will be ubiquitous in tomorrow’s workplaces. This vision of the future includes a new machine age, where various technologies (sensors, communication, computation, and intelligence) will be embedded around, on, and in us; where humans will shape technology and technology will shape human interaction; and where

CADRE, the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE), the resource center for the National Science Foundations' Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) Program.CADRE developed the CADRE Early Career Guide: Tips for Early Career STEM Education Researchers, a guide to becoming a successful researcher in the field of STEM education, and a profile of the CADRE Fellows program. Early career researchers may independently access the resources in the guide or share them with a study group of graduate students and professional peers. Advisors, supervisors, mentors, and program leads

The attached document provides an overview of the National Science Foundation's ITEST Program. The data for this report was derived from Management Information System (MIS) survey data from 2003-2016, a survey of newly-awarded projects in 2016, and from the NSF report of all ITEST project awards.