Conference Session

Engineering in Middle Schools

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Matthew Cathell, Drexel University; Michael Birnkrant, Drexel University; Jean Robinson, Martha Washington Elementary School; Priscilla Blount, Martha Washington Elementary School; Adam Fontecchio, Drexel University; Eli Fromm, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

the A. J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute. Dr. Fontecchio is the recipient of a NASA New Investigator award, the International Liquid Crystal Society Multimedia Prize, and the Drexel ECE Outstanding Research Award. He has authored over 35 peer-review publications on Electro-Optics and Condensed Matter Physics. His current research projects include developing liquid crystal polymer technology for optical film applications including electro-optic virtual focusing optics, reflective displays, flexible displays, power generating MEMS arrays, and photonic crystal structures with tunable defects. Page

Conference Session

Topics in K-12 Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

theme of “trash” seemed to blind many of the studentsto the broad implications. One student’s comments regarding the project on his reflective essayat the end of the semester sums it up: “I felt that the landfill project in particular was a definiteturn-off from the major. I feel that, in general, incoming Environmental Engineering studentsare not particularly excited about designing landfills, they would rather do something flashierand more entertaining. I understand (and understood) that landfill design is a sector ofEnvironmental Engineering, but I personally have absolutely no interest in it, and I feel most of Page 13.453.3my peers share

Conference Session

Engineering in Middle Schools

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Juanita Jo Matkins, College of William and Mary; John A. McLaughlin, McLauglin Associates; Eugene Brown, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Gail Hardinge, College of William and Mary; Nancy West, College of William and Mary; Robert Stiegler, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division; Kirk Jenne, Office of Naval Research

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

inclementweather and teacher schedules that impacted the consistency of administration. Within eachschool section below, the reader is provided with an overview of instrumentation and the mostsalient aspects of the data collected. The complete set of evaluation results is available uponrequest from the authors.In an ideal world with a perfect project all the data would yield results that are undeniablyconclusive. Social science researchers evaluate results from projects that reflect the complexityof human beings and human organizations. Thus, it did not surprise the authors to find resultsthat were encouraging, puzzling, and sometimes mildly disappointing. In the following sectionsthe authors have tried to provide a balanced reporting of the results from

Conference Session

Engineering in High Schools

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Crismond, The City College of New York

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

area of engineeringdesign research that relates in some design model to the latter phase of reflective practice (Schön,1983). Studying the relationship between product quality and diagnostic reasoning is a fruitfularea of future study. The results of this case-study comparison preliminarily suggest thateffective diagnostic reasoning may be related to better product design, since such a capabilityenables designers to learning more from product testing. When effective diagnostic reasonsersperform more design iterations, they may achieve greater insights into their devices and discovermore features to improve while still working within the time-constrained setting in which mostdesign work takes place. Disparities between intended function and

Conference Session

Innovative K-12 Engineering Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heath Tims, Louisiana Tech University; Galen Turner, Louisiana Tech University; Don Schillinger, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

break times. Many students chose to stayin the classroom and continue refining their bridge designs. This suggests that the group wasactively engaged, and will perform higher on their post camp test. The test scores reflect thisobservation. Building Bridges to the Future subject areas such as mathematics had an averageincrease of 1.68 or (11.2%), science had an average increase of 1.35 or (13.5%), and an overallincrease of 3.4 or (8.6%). This observation of active engagement of the students is validated bythe student’s evaluations of Building Bridges to the Future. 94.5% of the Junior High studentsresponded that they would attend the camp the following year, whereas 100% responded thatthey would recommend Building Bridges to the Future to a

Conference Session

Innovative K-12 Engineering Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aaron Clark, North Carolina State University; Jeremy Ernst, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

tovisualize rotated three-dimensional objects are central to understanding and interpretingscientific, technological, and mathematical visual-based information.Six-12 students’ spatial visualization rotation abilities were assessed. This investigation utilizedthe Purdue Spatial Visualization Test to assess visual aptitudes prior to the onset of instructionand then again after the completion of instruction while implementing a technology educationscientific and technical visualization standards-based curriculum. Student participantsexperienced high degrees of spatial visualization enhancement measured by the Purdue SpatialVisualization assessment. Further Spatial Visualization data analysis uncovered interestingoutcomes. Male scores reflected higher

Conference Session

Engineering in the Elementary School

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Edmond Saliklis, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

the rationalebehind the teaching module, and to document the changes we made to the module as we assessedits impact over several trial runs.The PremiseThe premise of this research project was to devise an outreach program to 5th or 6th gradestudents that demonstrates an engineering idea in a fun, yet informative way. At the onset wedecided against “trial and error” exercises where the students would be asked to create somethingstrictly from their own imagination or intuition. Our argument against such tasks is that they donot accurately reflect the methods that engineers actually use. We also decided against a strictly“show and tell” approach, wherein an impressive experiment or demonstration is conducted toelicit a strong audience reaction

Conference Session

K-12 Engineering Outreach Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Powers, Clarkson University; Bruce Brydges, SUNY Potsdam; Gail Gotham, SLL BOCES; James Carroll, Clarkson University; Peter Turner, Clarkson University; Douglas Bohl, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Conference Session

Public Engineering of Engineering, K12 Standards, and Overview

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kenneth Welty, University of Wisconsin, Stout; Linda Katehi, University of Illinois; Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering; Michael Feder, National Research Council

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

have been developed to-date. Thisdiversity reflects the complexity and breadth of modern engineering. At the same time, it poseschallenges to educators and policy makers seeking to understand how—or whether—engineeringcan become a more regular part of U.S. pre-college education. The noticeably thin presence ofmathematics, as well as of some key engineering concepts, such as modeling and analysis, raisesadditional questions about the difficulty of developing curricula that authentically represent thepractice of engineering.Another important question, not addressed in this paper but to be considered in the largerproject’s final report, is what impact K-12 engineering education has had on such things asstudent engagement and retention

Conference Session

Engineering in the Elementary School

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Parry, North Carolina State University; Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University; Elizabeth Miars, Rachel Freeman Elementary School; Lizette Day, Rachel Freeman Elementary School

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

assigned to schools in the area in which they live, the school demographics ofcourse reflect those of the surrounding community. In urban areas, this often results in studentpopulations with high needs. This is the case with Rachel Freeman. The unintended consequencesof such an assignment policy are numerous and daunting. The simultaneous implementation of anengineering curriculum with a predominantly new staff takes a strong administrator and hugesupport. The principal of Freeman is a very experienced administrator who is well regarded by herstaff, colleagues and central office personnel.The biggest challenge was in acclimatizing the students to a disciplined environment with highexpectations for behavior and academics. As stated, the children

Conference Session

Engineering Professional Development for K12 Teachers

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sean Brophy, Purdue University; Gemma Mann, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

," American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 47, pp. 1507-1527, 2004.(22) S. Jeffrey, "Breaking the Ethnographer's Frames: Reflections on the Use of Photo Elicitation in Understanding Sri Lankan Monastic Culture," The American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 47, pp. 1528, 2004.(23) M. J. Mayhew, "Exploring the Essence of Spirituality: A Phenomenological Study of Eight Students with Eight Different Worldviews," NASPA Journal, vol. 41, pp. 647-674, 2004.(24) A. V. Sampson-Cordle, "Exploring the relationship between a small rural school in northeast Georgia and its community: An image-based study using participant-produced photographs." United States -- Georgia: University of Georgia, 2001.(25) M. Besterfield-Sacre, L. J

Conference Session

Gender & Minority Issues in K-12 Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

LaRuth McAfee, Case Western Reserve University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

-week science apprenticeship program on high school sophomores and juniors. In thisstudy the metrics for success were based on concepts advocated by the National ResearchCouncil in its National Science Education Standards5, which encouraged learning science withinthe context of real-world problems. This concept of learning by doing is the basis for manyapprenticeship programs. However, in the study by Bell, et al., the students were found to havechanged their ideas of science and scientific inquiry very little between the beginning and end ofthe program. The sole student who had a significant positive change in these areas was found tohave done significant reflection on the project throughout the experience.Another example of a high school

Conference Session

Public Engineering of Engineering, K12 Standards, and Overview

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tylisha Baber, Michigan State University; Norman Fortenberry, National Academy of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

. Page 13.499.8SummaryThis paper has summarized images of engineers and engineering in various media (e.g., videogames, television, and radio). It has explored the design of new media products to enhance thepublic’s understanding of engineering; and it has identified a near-term strategy to pursue inroute to this long term goal.AcknowledgementsThis work was partially supported with funds provided under NSF grant HRD-0441207. Theviews expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NationalScience Foundation.Bibliography1. Digital Media and Learning Fact Sheet. [cited Jan. 2008]; Available from: http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/{7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C- E807E1B0AE4E}/DL%20FACT

Conference Session

Engineering in Middle Schools

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Quincy Brown, Drexel University; William Mongan, Drexel University; Dara Kusic, Drexel University; Elaine Garbarine, Drexel University; Eli Fromm, Drexel University; Adam Fontecchio, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

Faculty member in the Department of Materials Engineering at Drexel University. He also serves as the Director of© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Fabrication for the A. J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute. Dr. Fontecchio is the recipient of a NASA New Investigator award, the International Liquid Crystal Society Multimedia Prize, and the Drexel ECE Outstanding Research Award. He has authored over 35 peer-review publications on Electro-Optics and Condensed Matter Physics. His current research projects include developing liquid crystal polymer technology for optical film applications including electro-optic virtual focusing optics, reflective displays, flexible

Conference Session

Public Engineering of Engineering, K12 Standards, and Overview

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

James Nelson, University of Texas at Tyler; Michael Odell, University of Texas at Tyler; William Geiger, University of Texas at Tyler; Kristian Trampus, University of Texas at Tyler

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

. Masui, C., & De Corte, E. (2005). Learning to reflect and attribute constructively as basic components of self- regulated learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(3), 351-3727. Pehkonen, Erkki, Maija Ahtee and Jari Lavonen (ed), How Finns Learn Mathematics and Science, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, 2007.8. Before It's Too Late: A Report to the Nation, National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, http://www/ed/gov/inits/math/glenn/report.pdf (2000). Page 13.130.149. Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology: New Practices for a New Millennium

Conference Session

Topics in K-12 Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie Goldberg, Buffalo State College; Paul Siciliano, Buffalo State College; Clark Greene, Buffalo State College; Steve Macho, Buffalo State College

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

troubleshooting. Classroom experimentscan involve student groups deciding what they’d like to happen with their system of inputs,outputs, and PICAXE decision block. When the Experimenter board is populated and verified,students can build a real product based on the pre-tested system. Page 13.617.7The PIXAXE School Experimenter Board and PICsounds kits highlight for students what thebasic components of an embedded microcontroller system are: input information, decision-making based on input information, and output action. Students get to design and construct asimple example that reflects the building blocks of any embedded system. The softwareenvironment

Conference Session

Engineering Student Involvement in K12 Programs

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jill Andrews, University of Michigan; Lorelle Meadows, University of Michigan; Joy Oguntebi, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering