middle school level, literature shows that girlsare not actively being exposed to and participating in engineering contexts compared to their malecounterparts. Researchers have suggested collaborative learning might lead to increased interestand participation in STEM. Yet, the literature points to the need for understanding how minoritizedstudents interact with and experience collaborative group work settings. This study aims to explorehow middle school girls in STEM engage with their peers during microelectronics group activitiesand how these interactions influence their learning experiences and collaborative skills throughthe research question: What are the discourse patterns present in girl-only groups during a pre-college microelectronics
among instructors [13]. These challengesnecessitate thoughtful planning, coordinated execution, and frequent assessment of studentoutcomes to ensure that team teaching remains effective.In engineering education, team teaching takes on additional layers of complexity. The technicalrigor required in engineering courses demands a blend of expert knowledge and pedagogicalunderstanding. However, teaching teams may find it challenging to coordinate professionalinteraction among skilled instructors and ensure that all perspectives are integrated seamlesslyinto the course content [14]. In addition, engineering educators may seem reluctant to share aclassroom with peers or even uncomfortable at being assessed by students and peers alike [15].Looking
infrastructure projects; primarily those in support of educational content delivery and K-12 education. The past twenty-one summers Professor Winzer has conducted a STEM outreach effort titled ’Adventures in Robotics’ which has had over 1,000 local K-12 participants. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2025 Introduction to Scratch Programming and Motor Control with LEGO Spike Prime Revision Date:4/29/2025Lesson Length: _30-45______min Audience:__4th – 7th Grade_Description: Students will learn the fundamentals of programming using Scratch with the LEGO Spike Primekit. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to write a program to control
program onthe students’ affective and learning experience. To this end, a survey was administered to theeight students who participated in the program, after completion of the projects. All studentsparticipated in the survey, and the results revealed that 62.5% of the students reported beingextremely satisfied with the robotics program, including working with their peers and interactingwith the faculty. The students expressed that they found the academic program experienceenjoyable and useful in helping them to identify their future college interests and majors.IntroductionEducational robotics offers a stimulating and enjoyable environment for young individuals, whilesimultaneously introducing them to technological advancements. A growing number
) Author and Affiliation: Anonymized for ReviewAbstractThe BSEE curriculum integrates biology (science), Excel skills (technology), data analysis(mathematics), and problem-solving (engineering) within a 9th-grade integrated STEMframework. We implemented the curriculum in a high school elective course, Introduction toComputer Science. Students analyzed local deer mortality data and applied Excel functions toidentify trends. They created data visualizations to address real-world challenges. Such aninterdisciplinary approach connects STEM fields and bridges the gap between scientificknowledge, technological tools, and practical problem-solving skills. We evaluated the BSEEcurriculum using teachers’ self-assessments and peer evaluations. The
. This approach encourages motivation through emotionallearning and emphasizes collaborative, integrative, and constructive learning. The approachintegrates placed-based learning with journaling and sketching to foster observation, curiosity,imagination, and creativity while also employing rigorous homework practices that involvecritical reading and reflective, analytical, and critical writing. The approach of providing studentswith cumulative and integrated transdisciplinary learning content, equips them with thenecessary knowledge and heuristic abilities to work effectively in HDT teams, even before theyembark on their design projects.Pedological MethodologyLearning methodologies in Holistic Engineering (HE) draw on numerous established
peer questions help eliminate holes in the work and foster understanding [15].The final three assessment categories include building a technical paper (section by section). Forexample, the student submits a draft of the Introduction section; during the next submission, theysubmit revisions of the Introduction and a draft of the Methods. Each iteration is weighted moreas they are further in the process of developing these writing skills. At the end of the year,students are required to present a poster, which they created, at the Science and EngineeringSymposium at the end of the academic year (NGSS RST.11-12.7, RST.11-12.8, and RST.11-12.9).Advanced Research: Engineering and Thesis Research: Engineering Courses (1 year / each)Upper-level
gesture production in bilinguals, gestural effects on learning, visual attention to hand movements, and the role of expectation in communication. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, as well as in peer-reviewed conference proceedings. Her work is also highly interdisciplinary, crossing the fields of cognitive science, embodied cognition, psycholinguistics and education. She serves as the honorary secretary of the Educational Research Association of Singapore (ERAS) for 2024-2026.Dr. Ibrahim H. Yeter, Nanyang Technological University Ibrahim H. Yeter, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education (NIE) at Nanyang
successful. They may really struggle in reading or writing, and for this to happen, for them to be able to participate in this kind of an experience. This might be an area where they’re really successful, and it’s such a confidence boost. I also think it’s important for kids to see, you know, they pick up on things. They know, they understand that sometimes students are struggling, so being able for them to see like the value from their peers that they have really good ideas to share. You know, because they do, and it’s just it’s not necessarily always the way that we’re able to show that to others”Molly highlights the ways that DT differs from other talks. For the students, the novelty ofengineering, engaging in
in the zone of proximal development (ZPD) due to socialinteraction. The zone of proximal development (ZPD) has been defined as "the distance betweenthe actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level ofpotential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or incollaboration with more capable peers" [31, p. 86].Play and unstructured, informal activities stimulate children’s social interaction and influencetheir learning and knowledge construction [31]. These learning environments also promote socialconstructivist views of teaching and learning [33], where learning occurs collaboratively in smallgroups. In such informal settings, assistance from a more knowledgeable other, the
perceptions of engineering and to evaluate these programs and activities [3]. The Draw a ScientistTest (DAST) [4] and Draw an Engineer Test (DAET) [5] are two tools that use drawings to assess howstudents see themselves as engineers before they are able to articulate their thoughts in writing. Roboticsis an engineering discipline that suffers from a distinct lack of diversity both in who participates in K12programs and later who enters traditional engineering majors associated with robotics [6]. Recently, softrobotics, the sub-discipline focused on soft material designs for wearable robots, has been used as aplatform to attract more students to robotics with new materials [7], bioinspired designs [8], and human-centered applications [9]–[11]. To
. Interestingly, “Projects”elicited mixed responses, featuring both the most and least favored aspects. Other best-likeaspects emerged around the Engineering Design Process, and Flexibility and Creativity, whilethe least-liked themes included Assignment and Writing, and Timeframe.Table 2. Top Three Best and Least liked Aspects of the Courses. Best Liked Aspects Count Freq (%) Least Liked Aspects Count Freq (%) Projects 207 70 Assignment and Writing 108 36 Engineering Design Process 156 39 Projects 73 24 Flexibility and Creativity 100 25 Timeframe 22 7Concerning Projects, students highlighted
---these kits are great for that. There often is a disconnect to science in such kits, but these resources allowed me to make the connection to science. “That is what made it allowable for me to use it as science.”Third, parents adapted the kits to meet the learning needs and abilities of their children. We adapted the kit to focus on writing with my daughter. Writing sentences out of context is not of interest to my daughter. We made sure to write things out. I allowed my daughter to make the thing her own. There were no rules. It was open-ended. This would not have worked with my other child who wants more step-by-step instructions and being compliant.DiscussionSTEM kits grounded in the engineering design process may be an avenue
● Her interests include reading, music, and computers. ● Challenges in the classroom involve a "quiet refusal" and verbal repetition. Kiernan 21 Career Readiness Track ● She completes tasks when given clear instructions and modeling. ● Performs significantly below her peers in reading, writing, and math. Matt 18 Diploma Track ● He excels in classroom activities, blogging, and creating
throughout our state’s counties. Weestablished a relationship with 4-H youth development, specifically curriculum developers andSTEM specialists, to start sharing existing lesson plans and resources with their agents and clubs.For example, we became very involved with an energy-based summer program that had beenrunning for over twenty-five years, even to the point of traveling the state during 2021 to take thesummer program to different counties. We also started working with 4-H to write grants, andwere awarded a grant from the Office of Naval Research for workforce development thatexpands existing outreach programs to Western TN.This grant is one of several grants, both internal and external, that we received after we started towork synergistically
findings presented here are limited and preliminary, we found that the STEMsemester provided elementary PSTs with the opportunity to develop rich integrated STEMlearning experiences. We do note that more than half of these projects did not incorporateauthentic engineering design challenges. However, the projects that did include and centeredtheir lesson around an engineering design challenge had knowledge of the various steps of theengineering design process and a robust understanding of the impact of their topic locally as wellas globally. A future iteration of the STEM semester with this shared assignment would include amicroteaching session, where elementary PSTs could receive specific feedback from peers andinstructors about the engineering
of Practice (CoP) that connects them with peers, e4usa teammembers, university faculty, and practicing engineers throughout the year. CoP sessions are heldvirtually bi-weekly in two different formats. Once with the coaches in a small peer group andanother time with the entire cohort. These sessions encourage teachers to share classroomexperiences, exchange lesson plans, and engage in discussions. e4usa team also providesongoing support through a learning management platform addressing curriculum-relatedquestions and facilitating collaboration and professional growth within the teaching community.PersonasTo achieve its goals, e4usa has treated the curriculum design process as a Learning Engineering(LE) [8] design challenge. The team has, at
interestedto study for a university degree?”, and “why are you interested in learning about robotics? Whatare your career goals?”. The answers would help demonstrate the students’ writing and technicalskills, previous involvements, and interests. The students are selected from schools all aroundQatar that are interested in robotics and have shown to possess great group dynamics. Typically,the students are selected based on their performance in previous interactions from the STEMactivities and programs hosted by the university where the outstanding and skilled students areidentified and invited to be participate. However, there are instances where the students reach outto participate in such programs or schools would nominate their high-achieving
the challengesof engaging students without the presence of teachers and peers to encourage, motivate, andsupport them [5]. While there is little research on effective pedagogies for engaging students inonline labs, a recent study suggests that providing support for students before and during thehands-on projects, clear instructions about the experiment and set-up, and pre-structuring of labactivities, lead to successful student engagement with the activity [6]. Moreover, an importantgoal of Discover UC San Diego is to build confidence and self-efficacy, especially infirst-generation high school students, for college success. As defined by [7], “self-efficacy refersto an individual’s subjective conviction in his or her capabilities to perform
open-ended questions to gauge the satisfaction of learning outcomesof the course. We obtained a total of 30 pre- and 25 post-survey responses. We highlight a fewrelevant survey questions here and point the reader to Appendix A for the list of all questions. (a5) [Likert scale] I am confident in the ability of AI to solve the most complex problems in the world in the future.(a10) [Likert scale] I have advisers and/or role models in AI and CS (other than my parents). (b1) [Open-ended] What do you know about neural networks (write in one sentence without looking it up)? (b2) [Open-ended] What kinds of problems do people in AI work on? What kinds of medicine and healthcare problems do you imagine can be solved with AI?To facilitate
thinking • Communicating with peers assists in either confirming evidence or critiquing ideas using evidence • Enables students to use their developing scientific, Consolidation/Integration mathematical, and technical skills with reading and writing like professional engineers TransferCase Study Development and Research MethodsThe purpose of the work described in this WIP is to create representations of engineering workand careers for elementary-age students through the use of engineering case studies. Through thedevelopment work described here and the ultimate implementation of
might be apparent to college students but not to elementary students [22].Another form of fixation is the students’ tendency to stick to their first design idea [23], [24],[25]. Students either stuck to their initial design idea throughout the whole design process orproduced presumably novel ideas yet with little deviation from the original. Luo (2015) noticedthat the first design ideas were the most frequently chosen by elementary students to furtherdevelop. Two other articles pointed to students resisting feedbacks from teachers and peers aboutimprovement on their design [24], [25]. In both studies, elementary students were asked toexplain their proposed design to the class and receive feedback from the teachers and their peers.The authors
Commitment of Community Collaborators in Engineering Education and Industry (Work in Progress) AbstractThe underrepresentation of neurodiverse individuals, particularly those with autism, in the field ofengineering has been well-documented. The inclusion of these diverse learners must involve innovativepathways to engineering instruction. Additionally, steps must be taken to ensure inclusion and success inboth educational and workplace settings through individualized supports and by effectively preparingeducators, peers, and employers. Engineering Community Inclusion of Individuals with Autism (ECIIA), anNSF-funded project, will employ virtual reality (VR) technology to engage more autistic high
policymakers. This study investigates these possible directions through a lens of majorestablished models of integrated STEM education. Although extensive research has been doneon integrating AI with STEM, work is lacking that translates this concept into concrete entrypoints for integration. To address this gap, this research uses a systematic literature review (SLR)approach focusing on preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) perceptions of AI in STEM education. Usingthe PRISMA model, we gathered related empirical, peer-reviewed articles published from 2020to 2024. Of the 250 initial studies, 26 met our eventual criteria. Content analyses of these surveysrevealed several aspects that may be used to further understand PSTs' perspectives on AI'sinvolvement and
, including classroom settings,educator perceptions, and peer interactions [5]. Particularly relevant to this study and thedevelopment of STEM identity, Carlone and Johnson developed a model of science identitybased on the experiences of undergraduate female students of color [3]. Focusing on 15 womenof varying racial and ethnic identities at a small university, Carlone & Johnson conductedinterviews with participants about their experiences in science spaces, leaning heavily on therecognition component of science identity. As a result, Carlone and Johnson indicated threecomponents of internalized science identity: performance, recognition, and competence.Competence involves demonstrating skill and ability, performance pertains to speaking
underrepresented students must develop together in the class activities. CRPempowers the teachers' role as a designer in implementing policies and sociocultural research fordeveloping three main competencies in classrooms. The first competence that CRP teachers haveis student learning. Ladson-Billings redefined this term in 2021. She writes that it means howmuch the student grows in one scholarly period that begins in the fall and finishes in the spring-measuring this individual growth. CRP highlights this growth and avoids demerits of thestandards test; CRP considers that standardized tests do not measure other meaningful learningthat students could have acquired during the academic year. The second competence, CulturalCompetence in the context of CRP
agency and creativity during the transition process.Our Solution: PatchWe present Patch1 , a free and open-source online coding environment built to help novice learnersbridge the gap between Scratch and Python. Figure 1 shows Patch’s editor. Built on the ScratchVM [17], Patch integrates Pyodide [18], a library that enables web-based Python execution, toallow learners to write Python code that directly interacts with the Scratch game engine. Patch isbuilt to mirror many of the successful aspects of Scratch’s programming environment that aren’tseen in a traditional text-based programming environment. We describe below how Patchaddresses the key transition challenges: Figure 1. The editor of the Patch coding
shared belief in agroup’s ability to succeed [21]. It is important for teacher educators to understand howinteractions with students and peers can influence elementary PSTs’ teaching self-efficacy. PSTscan interact with K-6 students during traditional field placements and also in non-traditionalsettings like afterschool clubs where they are likely to find highly motivated students.Afterschool programs can also afford PSTs the opportunity to collaborate with peers in teamsunder the close supervision of their instructors. Teaching a small number of highly engagedstudents in a low-stress, collaborative, and supportive environment can result in masteryexperiences that strengthen their self-efficacy [22-23]. This study explores how PSTs’ self
optimization for aerospace applications.Sohini Gupta, Wheeler High School Sohini Gupta is a junior high school student at Wheeler High School, a distinguished magnet program in Marietta, GA. She is passionate about STEM, particularly engineering. Committed to pursuing a career in STEM despite challenges faced by underrepresented groups, Sohini actively seeks opportunities to engage in hands-on projects and STEM-related activities. She aspires to inspire her peers by being a proactive role model in the scientific community.Dr. Ibrahim H. Yeter, Nanyang Technological University Ibrahim H. Yeter, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education (NIE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore
purpose of engaging in this custom is for students to honortheir heritage and strengthen their connection to the African diaspora. The word “Ase” was also used toaffirm and praise students for correct answers to questions. Familial African terms were used, withinstructors addressed as “Mama” or “Baba” and peers referred to as “brother” or “sister”, reflecting theAfrican cultural values of communal respect and familial bonds (Wilson et al., 1995). Swahili phrases like“Asante sana” (thank you) and “Karibu” (you’re welcome) further immersed students in African languageand culture. The day ended with a communal closing exercise called, “Community”, a reflective practicerooted in African traditions of communal discussion, where all perspectives are