Teacher Engineering Talk About Problem Scoping in a Middle School Engineering Design-based STEM Integration Unit (Fundamental)

Amanda C. Johnston; Murat Akarsu; Tamara J. Moore; Siddika Selcen Guzey

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: Middle School Engineering Education
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--31043
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/31043
Download Count: 469

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Paper Authors

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Amanda C. Johnston Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0001-5737-7798

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Amanda Johnston is a graduate student in engineering education at Purdue University.

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Murat Akarsu Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0002-5883-5911

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Murat Akarsu is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Mathematics Education interested in pre-service teachers’ understanding of mathematics and geometry and STEM integration. Prior to arriving at Purdue University, he earned a master’s degree in the department of mathematics at the University of Cincinnati in the USA. He is currently writing a dissertation on the pre-service teachers’ understanding of geometric reflections in the USA. His dissertation explores pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ motion and mapping views and contributes to current research by offering insights into the development of an understanding of geometric reflection. He is also working as a research assistant in Engineering Education. His work is focused on student learning and interest engineering design to teach engineering, science, and mathematics.

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Tamara J. Moore Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0002-7956-4479

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Tamara J. Moore, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Engineering Education and Director of STEM Integration in the INSPIRE Institute at Purdue University. Dr. Moore’s research is centered on the integration of STEM concepts in K-12 and postsecondary classrooms in order to help students make connections among the STEM disciplines and achieve deep understanding. Her work focuses on defining STEM integration and investigating its power for student learning. Tamara Moore received an NSF Early CAREER award in 2010 and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2012.

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Siddika Selcen Guzey Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Dr. Guzey is an assistant professor of science education at Purdue University. Her research and teaching focus on integrated STEM Education.

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Abstract

Recent U.S national documents highlight the importance of engineering in the development and implementation of effective STEM units. However, there is not enough research exploring successful ways of integrating engineering concepts and practices at the K-12 level. Specifically, there is need to investigate teacher talk about engineering to their students within the context of science classes. This study analyzed the practices of an exemplary middle school life science teacher around engineering as he implemented a STEM integration unit to address the research question: How does an exemplary middle school life-science teacher talk about engineering during an engineering design-based STEM integration unit? The teacher participated in three years of professional development to learn about and develop STEM integration curriculum and was chosen because his students demonstrated high levels of learning in science and engineering throughout the three years. This study used a case study approach to analyze the teacher’s talk throughout a STEM integration unit. For each of the twenty class periods in the unit, transcriptions of whole class discussions were analyzed using The Framework for Quality K-12 Engineering Education. The coded results were further analyzed using process flowcharts and compared with examples throughout the unit.

This study found that the teacher integrated engineering throughout the unit by framing lessons around problem scoping and incorporating engineering ideas into scientific discussions. He organized individual lessons and the overall unit aligned with the engineering design process and previewed and summarized content learning in terms of the client’s problem. He stayed true to the context of the engineering challenge and treated the students as young engineers, building on student ideas to have discussions about engineering.

This teacher’s integration of engineering motivated students to be successful and modeled the practices of informed designers to help students effectively learn engineering in the context of their science classroom. This study has implications for educators and curriculum developers to align their engineering teacher talk with effective practice.

Citation
Format

Johnston, A. C., & Akarsu, M., & Moore, T. J., & Guzey, S. S. (2018, June), Teacher Engineering Talk About Problem Scoping in a Middle School Engineering Design-based STEM Integration Unit (Fundamental) Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--31043

TY - CPAPER
AB - Recent U.S national documents highlight the importance of engineering in the development and implementation of effective STEM units. However, there is not enough research exploring successful ways of integrating engineering concepts and practices at the K-12 level. Specifically, there is need to investigate teacher talk about engineering to their students within the context of science classes. This study analyzed the practices of an exemplary middle school life science teacher around engineering as he implemented a STEM integration unit to address the research question: How does an exemplary middle school life-science teacher talk about engineering during an engineering design-based STEM integration unit? The teacher participated in three years of professional development to learn about and develop STEM integration curriculum and was chosen because his students demonstrated high levels of learning in science and engineering throughout the three years. This study used a case study approach to analyze the teacher’s talk throughout a STEM integration unit. For each of the twenty class periods in the unit, transcriptions of whole class discussions were analyzed using The Framework for Quality K-12 Engineering Education. The coded results were further analyzed using process flowcharts and compared with examples throughout the unit.

This study found that the teacher integrated engineering throughout the unit by framing lessons around problem scoping and incorporating engineering ideas into scientific discussions. He organized individual lessons and the overall unit aligned with the engineering design process and previewed and summarized content learning in terms of the client’s problem. He stayed true to the context of the engineering challenge and treated the students as young engineers, building on student ideas to have discussions about engineering.

This teacher’s integration of engineering motivated students to be successful and modeled the practices of informed designers to help students effectively learn engineering in the context of their science classroom. This study has implications for educators and curriculum developers to align their engineering teacher talk with effective practice.
AU - Amanda C. Johnston
AU - Murat Akarsu
AU - Tamara J. Moore
AU - Siddika Selcen Guzey
CY - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA - 2018/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Teacher Engineering Talk About Problem Scoping in a Middle School Engineering Design-based STEM Integration Unit (Fundamental)
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/31043
DO - 10.18260/1-2--31043
ER -