Engineering within K-12 from the Teacher’s Perspective: Effectively  Integrating Engineering Activities Tied to Educational Standards

Debra Kay Gallagher; Kenneth Reid

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: K-12 Professional Development I
Tagged Division: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 23.525.1 - 23.525.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--19539
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/19539
Download Count: 387

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Paper Authors

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Debra Kay Gallagher Ohio Northern University

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Dr. Debra Gallagher is an assistant professor of Education at Ohio Northern University. She teaches courses in Middle Childhood Methods, Math Methods, and Science Methods. Dr. Gallagher is very involved in designing and presenting professional development opportunities for K-12 math and science teachers. She has received several grants and is currently the Co-PI of an Ohio Board of Regents Improving Teacher Quality Grant. Dr. Gallagher serves as the president of the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics and her research interests include STEM Education in K-12.

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Kenneth Reid Ohio Northern University

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Dr. Kenneth "Ken" Reid is the director of First-Year Engineering, director of Engineering Education and an associate professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at Ohio Northern University. He was the seventh person in the U.S. to receive a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. He is active in engineering within K-12, serving on the TSA Boards of Directors and over ten years on the IEEE-USA Precollege Education Committee. He was named the Herbert F. Alter chair of Engineering in 2010. His research interests include success in first-year engineering, introducing entrepreneurship into engineering, international service and engineering in K-12.

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Abstract

Engineering within K-12 from the Teacher’s Perspective: Effectively Integrating Engineering Activities Tied to Educational StandardsReports such as the National Academies’ “Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding theStatus and Improving the Prospects” describe the importance of effectively incorporatingengineering concepts into the K-12 curriculum. However, as stated in “Standards for K–12Engineering Education?” developing stand-alone engineering standards is not currentlyrecommended for a number of reasons including “although theoretically possible to developstandards for K–12 engineering education, it would be extremely difficult to ensure theirusefulness and effective implementation” at this time, in part because “there is not at present acritical mass of teachers qualified to deliver engineering instruction.” is in its second year of workshops designed to introduce hands-on engineeringconcepts into the classrooms primarily within grades 5-10. The series of workshops involves adetailed introduction to the revised educational standards in the state of . Hands-onactivities designed to introduce engineering concepts while specifically addressing thesestandards are introduced to the teachers along with success stories. Free and readily accessiblelesson plans are from the IEEE sponsored tryengineering.org web site, TED.com andEngineering Go For it, eGRI.com are used. Unique to this workshop is the consistent attentionto specific math and science standards addressed, as well as the use of an engineering designprocess as a problem solving tool.The first year of the program culminated with a symposium, where teachers demonstrated thesuccesses from their classrooms. Teachers in the second cohort were given access to webresources designed to illustrate the content from previous grades (to give an idea of realisticexpectations) and following grades (to understand what is expected from their grade). Teacherswere given a week-long, in-depth introduction to robotics, rocketry or Lego Mindstormprogramming and their ties to their educational standards.The paper will describe the results of the assessment from two cohorts of teachers and describethe implementation of the program for those institutions interested in building upon these efforts.Specifically of interest, establishing a concrete tie from these engineering activities to relevanteducational standards, allowing teachers to actually implement these activities in their classroom.

Citation
Format

Gallagher, D. K., & Reid, K. (2013, June), Engineering within K-12 from the Teacher’s Perspective: Effectively Integrating Engineering Activities Tied to Educational Standards Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19539

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -       Engineering within K-12 from the Teacher’s Perspective: Effectively       Integrating Engineering Activities Tied to Educational StandardsReports such as the National Academies’ “Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding theStatus and Improving the Prospects” describe the importance of effectively incorporatingengineering concepts into the K-12 curriculum. However, as stated in “Standards for K–12Engineering Education?” developing stand-alone engineering standards is not currentlyrecommended for a number of reasons including “although theoretically possible to developstandards for K–12 engineering education, it would be extremely difficult to ensure theirusefulness and effective implementation” at this time, in part because “there is not at present acritical mass of teachers qualified to deliver engineering instruction.” is in its second year of workshops designed to introduce hands-on engineeringconcepts into the classrooms primarily within grades 5-10. The series of workshops involves adetailed introduction to the revised educational standards in the state of . Hands-onactivities designed to introduce engineering concepts while specifically addressing thesestandards are introduced to the teachers along with success stories. Free and readily accessiblelesson plans are from the IEEE sponsored tryengineering.org web site, TED.com andEngineering Go For it, eGRI.com are used. Unique to this workshop is the consistent attentionto specific math and science standards addressed, as well as the use of an engineering designprocess as a problem solving tool.The first year of the program culminated with a symposium, where teachers demonstrated thesuccesses from their classrooms. Teachers in the second cohort were given access to webresources designed to illustrate the content from previous grades (to give an idea of realisticexpectations) and following grades (to understand what is expected from their grade). Teacherswere given a week-long, in-depth introduction to robotics, rocketry or Lego Mindstormprogramming and their ties to their educational standards.The paper will describe the results of the assessment from two cohorts of teachers and describethe implementation of the program for those institutions interested in building upon these efforts.Specifically of interest, establishing a concrete tie from these engineering activities to relevanteducational standards, allowing teachers to actually implement these activities in their classroom.
AU  - Debra Kay Gallagher
AU  - Kenneth Reid
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engineering within K-12 from the Teacher’s Perspective: Effectively  Integrating Engineering Activities Tied to Educational Standards 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/19539
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--19539
ER  -