1. Engineering Teaching Kits
Engineering design in the science classroom
Christine Schnittka
University of KENTUCKY
Larry G. Richards
University of Virginia
Susan K. Donohue
The College of new jersey

2. Engineering Teaching Kits

3. Protecting the Environment Physics Engineering Save the Penguins
This is a special unit we’ll be studying. It combines engineering, physics, and protecting the environment in order to save penguins.

4. Save the Penguins ETK

5. Targeted Demonstrations
The Cans
The Trays
The Spoons
The House
The Mylar

6. Alternative Conceptions about HT
Cold is a substance that moves
Heat is a substance that rises
Heat is a substance like a fluid, made of particles
Larger ice cubes are colder than small ones
Metal is cold, plastic and wood are warm
Aluminum foil traps “coldness”; metals hold “cold”
Sweaters warm things
(Albert, 1978; Clough & Driver, 1985; Erickson, 1979; Erickson, 1980)

7. Videos about Penguins Penguin in a Pickle Penguin Populations
Penguins are Melting

8. Penguin in a Pickle

9. Penguin Populations

10. Penguins are Melting

11. Penguins in South Africa

14. The Engineering Design Process
Identify the Need
Define the Problem
Brainstorm Ideas
Conduct Research
Develop Design
Revise Design
Test Design
There is no one agreed-upon process for doing engineering, but it basically goes like this. Engineers solve problems through designs. It is an iterative process where the design might go through many stages of testing and re-design. Often engineers do not identify the need, society does, but engineers tackle the problem once it is clearly defined.

15. As Energy Demands Grow…
… more electricity or fuel is used.
… burned fuels create carbon dioxide.
… power plants usually burn coal- which produces carbon dioxide too
… carbon dioxide is implicated in global warming
… global warming is not our friend.
So, before you get started saving penguins, there’s one more thing you need to know:

16. So, How Can We Save the Penguins?
Let students guess what they will be doing if there is time.

17. Save the Penguins ETK

18. Engineering Design Process

19. Test Materials, Design, and Build!
Test materials if you are not sure which ones to use.
Think about conduction with the floor
Think about convection (hot air entering the house)
Think about radiation from ALL sides (even the bottom)
Your constraints are space and time.
Try to stay under a $200 budget! Extra materials are available for purchase (trade).

20. Results: Design Iterations
4.7 g remaining
6.3 g remaining
5.5 g remaining
7.0 g remaining
3.1 g remaining
5.7 g remaining
3.9 g remaining
6.0 g remaining

21. Heat Transfer Evaluation - Pilot Study
Reliability was through test-retest. Correlation coefficient R=.71
Face and content validity assessed with panel of experts. Construct validity assessed through comparison of groups. All groups significantly different

22. Heat Transfer Evaluation
1. You pick up a can of soda off of the countertop. The countertop underneath the can feels colder than the rest of the counter. Which explanation do you think is the best?
a. The cold has been transferred from the soda to the counter.
b. There is no heat energy left in the counter beneath the can.
c. Some heat has been transferred from the counter to the soda.
d. The heat beneath the can moves away into other parts of the countertop.

23. Heat Transfer Evaluation
1. You pick up a can of soda off of the countertop. The countertop underneath the can feels colder than the rest of the counter. Which explanation do you think is the best?
a. The cold has been transferred from the soda to the counter.
b. There is no heat energy left in the counter beneath the can.
c. Some heat has been transferred from the counter to the soda.
d. The heat beneath the can moves away into other parts of the countertop.

24. Heat Transfer Evaluation
2. After cooking an egg in boiling water, you cool the egg by putting it into a bowl of cold water. Which of the following explains the egg’s cooling process?
a. Temperature is transferred from the egg to the water.
b. Cold moves from the water into the egg.
c. Energy is transferred from the water to the egg.
d. Energy is transferred from the egg to the water.

25. Heat Transfer Evaluation
2. After cooking an egg in boiling water, you cool the egg by putting it into a bowl of cold water. Which of the following explains the egg’s cooling process?
a. Temperature is transferred from the egg to the water.
b. Cold moves from the water into the egg.
c. Energy is transferred from the water to the egg.
d. Energy is transferred from the egg to the water.

26. Heat Transfer Evaluation
3. Why do we wear sweaters in cold weather?
a. To keep cold out.
b. To generate heat.
c. To reduce heat loss.
d. All of the above.

27. Heat Transfer Evaluation
3. Why do we wear sweaters in cold weather?
a. To keep cold out.
b. To generate heat.
c. To reduce heat loss.
d. All of the above.

28. Heat Transfer Evaluation
 4. Amy wraps her dolls in blankets but can’t understand why they don’t warm up. Why don’t they warm up?
a. The blankets she uses are probably poor insulators.
b. The blankets she uses are probably poor conductors.
c. The dolls are made of materials which don’t hold heat well.
d. None of the above.

29. Heat Transfer Evaluation
 4. Amy wraps her dolls in blankets but can’t understand why they don’t warm up. Why don’t they warm up?
a. The blankets she uses are probably poor insulators.
b. The blankets she uses are probably poor conductors.
c. The dolls are made of materials which don’t hold heat well.
d. None of the above.

30. Heat Transfer Evaluation
5. As water in a freezer turns into ice,
a. the water absorbs energy from the air in the freezer.
b. the water absorbs the coldness from the air in the freezer.
c. the freezer air absorbs heat from the water.
d. the water neither absorbs nor releases energy

31. Heat Transfer Evaluation
5. As water in a freezer turns into ice,
a. the water absorbs energy from the air in the freezer.
b. the water absorbs the coldness from the air in the freezer.
c. the freezer air absorbs heat from the water.
d. the water neither absorbs nor releases energy

32. Heat Transfer Evaluation
6. On a warm sunny day, you will feel cooler wearing light colored clothes because they
a. reflect more radiation.
b. prevent sweating.
c. are not as heavy as dark clothes.
d. let more air in.

33. Heat Transfer Evaluation
6. On a warm sunny day, you will feel cooler wearing light colored clothes because they
a. reflect more radiation.
b. prevent sweating.
c. are not as heavy as dark clothes.
d. let more air in.

34. Heat Transfer Evaluation
 7. If you put a metal spoon and a wooden spoon into a pot of boiling water, one will become too hot to touch. Why?
a. Metals conduct heat better than wood.
b. Wood conducts heat better than metals.
c. Metals pull in heat because heat is attracted to metals.
d. Wood isn’t as strong as metals.

35. Heat Transfer Evaluation
 7. If you put a metal spoon and a wooden spoon into a pot of boiling water, one will become too hot to touch. Why?
a. Metals conduct heat better than wood.
b. Wood conducts heat better than metals.
c. Metals pull in heat because heat is attracted to metals.
d. Wood isn’t as strong as metals.

36. Heat Transfer Evaluation
8. On a hot day, the upstairs rooms in a house are usually hotter than the downstairs rooms. Why?
a. Cool air is less dense than hot air.
b. Warm air rises and cool air sinks.
c. The upstairs rooms are closer to the sun.
d. Heat rises.

37. Heat Transfer Evaluation
8. On a hot day, the upstairs rooms in a house are usually hotter than the downstairs rooms. Why?
a. Cool air is less dense than hot air.
b. Warm air rises and cool air sinks.
c. The upstairs rooms are closer to the sun.
d. Heat rises.

38. Heat Transfer Evaluation
9. You have a can of soda in your lunchbox that you want to keep cold. Which material will work best to keep it cold? a. Aluminum foil wrapped around the soda because metals transfer heat energy easily. b. A paper towel wrapped around the soda because paper soaks up the moisture. c. Wax paper wrapped around the soda because wax paper traps the moisture. d. Your wool sweater wrapped around the soda because wool traps air.

39. Heat Transfer Evaluation
9. You have a can of soda in your lunchbox that you want to keep cold. Which material will work best to keep it cold? a. Aluminum foil wrapped around the soda because metals transfer heat energy easily. b. A paper towel wrapped around the soda because paper soaks up the moisture. c. Wax paper wrapped around the soda because wax paper traps the moisture. d. Your wool sweater wrapped around the soda because wool traps air.

40. Heat Transfer Evaluation
10. When you hold a metal coat hanger in a camp fire to roast a marshmallow, the coat hanger might get too hot to hold. Why might the coat hanger get too hot? a. The heat radiates along the coat hanger. b. The heat builds up near the flame until it can’t hold it anymore and then moves along the coat hanger. c. Metal atoms vibrate with more energy when they get hot, and they collide with atoms near them, which makes the neighboring atoms vibrate too. d. Since metals melt in fire, they react very strongly to fire and get hot easily.

41. Heat Transfer Evaluation
10. When you hold a metal coat hanger in a camp fire to roast a marshmallow, the coat hanger might get too hot to hold. Why might the coat hanger get too hot? a. The heat radiates along the coat hanger. b. The heat builds up near the flame until it can’t hold it anymore and then moves along the coat hanger. c. Metal atoms vibrate with more energy when they get hot, and they collide with atoms near them, which makes the neighboring atoms vibrate too. d. Since metals melt in fire, they react very strongly to fire and get hot easily.

42. Heat Transfer Evaluation
11. An aluminum plate and a plastic plate have been in the freezer all night long. When you remove them the next morning,
a. The plates have the same temperature.
b. The plastic plate has a higher temperature.
c. The plastic plate has a lower temperature.
d. The aluminum plate has a lower temperature.

43. Heat Transfer Evaluation
11. An aluminum plate and a plastic plate have been in the freezer all night long. When you remove them the next morning,
a. The plates have the same temperature.
b. The plastic plate has a higher temperature.
c. The plastic plate has a lower temperature.
d. The aluminum plate has a lower temperature.

44. Heat Transfer Evaluation
12. When placed in direct sunlight, which object will absorb the most radiation?
a. a white sweater
b. a snowball
c. some aluminum foil
d. a black sweater  

45. Heat Transfer Evaluation
12. When placed in direct sunlight, which object will absorb the most radiation?
a. a white sweater
b. a snowball
c. some aluminum foil
d. a black sweater  

46. Methods ETK Save the Penguins without five targeted demos
n=21 (9M, 12F)
n=8 pre- interviews
HTE and ATES pretest/posttest
n=10 exit interviews
Control
Typical instruction: labs, lectures, demos
n=27 (17M, 10F)
n=10 pre- interviews
HTE and ATES pretest/posttest
n=10 exit interviews
ETK+D
Save the Penguins with five targeted demos
n=23( 12M, 11F)
n=11 pre-interviews
HTE and ATES pretest/posttest
n=10 exit interviews
Equivalent scores on pretests, and 7th grade math and reading VA SOLs
Three eighth grade classes taught by the same teacher. Six 80 minute class periods. These classes were equivalent in terms of their combined 7th grade reading and math SOL scores. I used a one way ANOVA and the means were the same with a significance of p = .60. The second class was chosen as the control because there were more students in that class who took algebra in 7th grade instead of 7th grade math. I figured they might have an advantage and didn’t want that to interfere with the results. The other two classes were decided with an actual coin toss. Also included in this is entrance, exit, and informal interviews with the teacher. I videotaped each class, took observation notes, and recorded group dynamics with handheld wireless microphones.

47. Results: Heat Transfer- pre
Pretest scores on Heat Transfer Evaluation
ETK: M=4.33
Control: M=4.63
ETK+D: M=4.09
F(2,68) = .601
p = .551
ETK
CONTROL
ETK+D

48. Results: Heat Transfer- pre
Cold transfers
Metals trap cold
Metals are colder than plastics
Light colors reflect radiation/ dark colors absorb
Metals are conductors
Heat rises
Hot air rises
Insulators generate heat
Sweaters reduce heat loss

49. Results: Heat Transfer- after
ETK: M=6.43
Control: M=7.19
ETK+D: M=8.22

50. Results: Heat Transfer- after
Pre-Posttest Gains on Heat Transfer Evaluation
Repeated measures ANOVA F(2,68) = p = .002
ANCOVA F(2,67) = p = .003

51. Results: Heat Transfer- after
ANOVA comparisons
ETK+D to Control, p = .005
ETK+D to ETK, p = .002
Control to ETK, p = .448

52. Results: Eng Attitudes- pre
Pretest scores on Attitudes toward Engineering Survey
ETK: M=3.35
Control: M=3.52
ETK+D: M=3.64
F(2,68) = 2.271
p = .111
Cronbach’s α = .76
ETK
CONTROL
ETK+D

53. Results: Eng Attitudes- pre
Researcher: Do you have any idea what an engineer’s job would be?
Kate (ETK Class): Like driving a train?
Researcher: What kinds of people do you think grow up to be engineers?
Kate: Ones who like driving trains.
Researcher: Do you have any idea, what an engineer might do for a living? What their job might be?
Woody (Control Class): Fix cars.
Researcher: Any other things engineers might do?
Woody: Fix automobiles. Fix planes. Fix something mechanical.

54. Results: Eng Attitudes- after
ETK: M=3.57
Control: M=3.61
ETK+D: M=3.90
Notice the range of means. Much higher range in the ETK+D group.

55. Results: Eng Attitudes- after
Pre- Posttest gains on Attitudes toward Engineering
ETK: M= t(20) = 3.739, p = .001
Control: M=3.61 t(26)=1.347, p = .190
ETK+D: M=3.90 t(22)=2.659, p = .014
ANOVA and ANCOVA each predict no significant difference between classes. However, within treatment groups, paired t-tests revealed a significant change pre to post in both engineering design groups, but not in the control group.

56. Gender Effect ? - Eng Attitudes
However, when this result was split by gender, paired t-tests revealed that only females made significant pre-post gains in engineering attitudes. The male students did not.
ETK males:
t(8) = 2.290, p=.051
ETK+D males:
t(11) = 1.147, p = .276
ETK females:
t(11) = 2.939, p =.013
ETK+D females:
t(10) = 2.905, p = .016
Control males:
t(16) = 0.296, p = .771
Control females:
t(9) = 1.904, p = .089

57. Conclusions/ Implications
Engineering design can promote conceptual change as well as typical instruction
ETK+D is better than typical or ETK alone
Students’ alternative conceptions should be addressed
Middle school teacher can implement engineering design with some basic training
Engineering design activities can promote positive attitudes toward engineering