Engineering is Elementary Inservice PD Program Christine M. Cunningham Museum of Science, Boston

Overview Define integrated STEM education. Describe the content, history, and impact of the EiE PD program. What challenges in design and implementation has the EiE PD program faced? How have these challenges been addressed? What opportunities have arisen? What are the most important unanswered questions regarding the preparation of inservice K-12 teachers to teach integrated STEM?

Reflections on Integrated STEM Engage pupils in activities that require more than one S-TE-M discipline One (or two) disciplines have primacy Begin with problems or contexts that naturally require multiple disciplines From disciplinary boundaries  problem solving (or other larger habits of mind)

Engineering is Elementary (EiE) Lessons that integrate engineering and technology concepts into elementary science. Goal 1. Increase children’s technological literacy. Goal 2. Increase elementary educators’ ability to teach engineering and technology. Goal 3. Increase the number of schools in the U.S. that include engineering at the elementary level. Goal 4. Conduct research and assessment to further the first three goals and contribute knowledge about engineering teaching and learning at the elementary level.

EiE Units Science TopicEng FieldTechnology Country WaterEnvironmentalWater FiltersIndia Insects/PlantsAgriculturalPollinatorsDominican Rep Wind & WeatherMechanicalWindmillsDenmark Simple MachinesIndustrialChip Factory Design USA (Af Am) Earth MaterialsMaterialsWallsChina Balance & ForcesCivilBridgesUSA (Hisp) SoundAcousticalSound RepresentationGhana OrganismsBioengineeringModel MembranesEl Salvador ElectricityElectricalAlarm CircuitsAustralia Solids & LiquidsChemicalPlaydough ProcessCanada Landforms GeotechnicalBridge SitingNepal PlantsPackagePlant PackageJordan MagnetismTransportationMaglev VehicleJapan Energy SustainableSolar CookerBotswana Solar SystemAerospaceParachuteBrazil Rocks & MineralsMaterialsReplicate an ArtifactRussia Floating & SinkingOceansSubmersibleGreece EcosystemsEnvironmentalOil Spill RemediationUSA (Nat Am) LightOpticalLighting SystemEgypt Human BodyBiomedicalKnee BraceGermany

Unit Structure Lesson 1: Engineering Story Lesson 2: A Broader View of an Engineering Field Lesson 3: Scientific Data Inform Engineering Design Lesson 4: Engineering Design Challenge

EiE Professional Development (PD) Workshops: 4-8 hour, 2-5 days, 2 weeks, semester Follow-up sessions EiE staff have run: 180 PD sessions for over 3000 educators Partners: Teacher Educator Institute PD Resource Guides

EiE Agenda 8:30 Goals & Introductions 8:45 What is Technology? 9:30What is Engineering? 10:30Break 10:40Introduction to the EiE Project 10:50Water, Water Everywhere: Lesson 1 11:00 Water, Water Everywhere: Lesson 2 11:30 Lunch 12:30 Water, Water Everywhere: Lesson 3 1:30 Water, Water Everywhere: Lesson 4 2:15Overview of EiE Teacher Guide & Educator Resources 2:45Time to look through Teacher Guides & Materials Kits 3:15Wrap-Up, Q&A, Workshop Evaluation 3:30Adjourn

PD Organizing Principles & Structures Philosophical Underpinnings Define Goals for Program Begin with an Activity Do Classroom Activities Focus on Processes Integrate Real-World Context Model & Discuss Pedagogy Model Deliberation & Decisions Create Social Endeavor Evaluate & Collect Data

Impact Teachers attending PD agree: Workshops are well planned and structured Materials are presented in a manner that helps them feel comfortable using them in their classroom Workshops prepare them to do an engineering project in their classroom.

Impact: Gains in Knowledge Teachers indicate significant increases in Their knowledge of: The range of engineering disciplines What engineers do The pervasiveness of engineering in our society.

Impact: Gains in Knowledge Teachers indicate significant increases in knowledge of How engineering is practiced: they understand that there is not necessarily one “right” answer for engineering problems, they know about the engineering design process, they know more about the types of constraints that influence the design and selection of engineering criteria they are more confident in their ability to analyze the engineering solutions that their students might generate

Impact: Pedagogy Teachers reported making greater use of engineering concepts and examples, including the engineering design process, across STEM subjects after participating in EiE. Particularly large increases were found in the frequency with which teachers: -describe engineering careers to their students -use engineering examples in science lessons -use an engineering design process in their science classes.

Impact: Pedagogy Teachers report changes in their pedagogical strategies: They significantly increase their use of problem-solving strategies not explicitly related to engineering in their teaching. They evince improved attitudes toward problem-solving strategies and use more inductive methods Teacher significantly increase their use of four other problem-solving strategies. They were more likely to have students: ask what they know related to the topic being studied, use things from everyday life in solving problems, work on problems for which there is no immediately obvious method of solution, explain how they solve complex problems.

Current Efforts Integration –Math/Engineering –Science/Engineering Creation of Additional Support & Resources –Transcending f2f –Video –Content Connections

Challenges Advocacy for Elementary Engineering Funding and Time Engineering as Terrifying Integration without a National Map Visualizing Elementary Engineering Lack of (Science) Knowledge Two-Role Tension Preservice

Opportunities Modeling Engineering (or iSTEM) Instruction Bolstering Science Knowledge & Instruction Open-Ended Inquiry Transcendent Science & Engineering Themes Additional PD Resources

Important Issues/Questions How to balance bolstering teachers’ understanding of: –STEM content –STEM processes –Pedagogical strategies Need for good models and examples

Contact Information Christine Cunningham: Engineering is Elementary: