Board 160: Discovering Simple Machines; Fun with Problem-Solving in Elementary School
- Conference
- Location
-
Baltimore , Maryland
- Publication Date
-
June 25, 2023
- Start Date
-
June 25, 2023
- End Date
-
June 28, 2023
- Conference Session
-
Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE) Poster Session
- Tagged Division
-
Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE)
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--44627
- Permanent URL
-
https://strategy.asee.org/44627
Paper Authors
Joselyn Elisabeth Busato Bucknell University
Joselyn Busato is an undergraduate student at Bucknell University, majoring in creative writing and biology.
Elif Miskioglu Bucknell University
Dr. Elif Miskioglu is an early-career engineering education scholar and educator. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering (with Genetics minor) from Iowa State University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Ohio State University. Her early Ph.D. work focused on the development of bacterial biosensors capable of screening pesticides for specifically targeting the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. As a result, her diverse background also includes experience in infectious disease and epidemiology, providing crucial exposure to the broader context of engineering problems and their subsequent solutions. These diverse experiences and a growing passion for improving engineering education prompted Dr. Miskioglu to change her career path and become a scholar of engineering education. As an educator, she is committed to challenging her students to uncover new perspectives and dig deeper into the context of the societal problems engineering is intended to solve. As a scholar, she seeks to not only contribute original theoretical research to the field, but work to bridge the theory-to-practice gap in engineering education by serving as an ambassador for empirically driven educational practices.
Kaela M. Martin Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott
Kaela Martin is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott Campus. She graduated from Purdue University with a PhD in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Her research interests in engineering education include developing classroom interventions that improve student learning, designing experiences to further the development of students from novices to experts, and creating engaging classroom experiences.
Abstract
This Work in Progress paper details the objectives and applications of the beginning stages of an educational board game design. We have created an outreach activity targeted at elementary students to introduce them to key concepts relevant to engineering. Some of these concepts include simple machines, problem-solving, and optimization of materials and cost. We created a board game entitled Simple Machinery Mashup to introduce these key concepts to students in grades 3-5 in a hands-on approach. Teams of 2-4 participants move across the board by completing design challenge tasks with a provided set of simple machines and common household items. Participants must optimize their allotted money and provided materials to design and create structures that completes each task. Introducing these concepts of optimization, problem-solving and adaptability in a low-stakes environment encourages participants to tinker and explore during the game, as well as provide a sense of self-efficacy when adapting to new challenges. This paper describes the game and preliminary results from pilot tests of the game with a small group of adults with a background in elementary education. The four educators commented on the benefits of hands-on tinkering and exploration, but recommended including more opportunities for interaction with the board, highlighting the universality of simple machines, and creating more real-world situations in gameplay. Collaborating with educators that have firsthand experience and knowledge about classroom management and patterns of student participation can allow for the creation of a more effective educational tool. The comments and suggestions from the pilot test with educators will be used to create the final iteration of the board game before it is tested with the target demographic of elementary school students.
Busato, J. E., & Miskioglu, E., & Martin, K. M. (2023, June), Board 160: Discovering Simple Machines; Fun with Problem-Solving in Elementary School Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44627
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015