Honolulu, Hawaii
June 24, 2007
June 24, 2007
June 27, 2007
2153-5965
10
12.489.1 - 12.489.10
10.18260/1-2--2274
https://peer.asee.org/2274
540
ROBIN LITTLE is the Engineering Coach at Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School Center for Mathematics and Engineering. She earned a B.A. in Elementary Education and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida. Her experiences include over 23 years in early childhood classrooms and seven years as a teacher resource and trainer. Robin has curriculum writing experience, including a nationally published teacher resource book integrating science and literature with other areas of the curriculum.
CHARLES PARSONS is the Science Coach at Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School Center for Mathematics and Engineering. He earned a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of South Florida. His experiences include over 30 years teaching in Kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms and 1 ½ years as a resource teacher. Chuck has curriculum writing experience and has presented at various state and national venues.
PAT VAN DRIESSCHE is a fourth grade teacher at Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School Center for Mathematics and Engineering. She earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Superior and her M.S. in Specific Learning and Behavior Problems from the College of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. Her teaching experiences include over 30 years teaching first through sixth grade and seven years in exceptional student education. Pat has presented various district trainings and is currently involved in the development of the integrated curriculum at Jamerson.
MARILYN BARGER is the Executive Director of FL-ATE, the Florida Regional Center for Manufacturing Education housed at Hillsborough Community College. She earned a B.A. in Chemistry at Agnes Scott College, and both a B.S. in Engineering Science and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of South Florida. She has over 16 years of experience in developing curriculum in engineering and engineering technology and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Florida. She is currently working with Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School to develop curriculum content for its Center for Mathmatics and Engineering.
KIM PARSONS is the Reading Coach for Kindergarten through Third grade at Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School Center for Mathematics and Engineering. She earned a B.A. in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of South Florida. Prior to her position as Reading Coach, Kim’s experience included fifteen years as a classroom teacher in grades one through five. Kim has presented at various county and state venues.
RICHARD GILBERT is a professor of Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida. He has developed educational materials for ISA (Instrument Society of America), AVS (American Vacuum Society) Science Educator’s Workshop, and the National Science Foundation through a grant to develop high school science and math curriculum content. He is currently working with Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School to develop curriculum content for its Center for Math and Engineering.
DEBORAH O'HARE is a 4th and 5th grade teacher at Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School Center for Mathematics and Engineering. She earned a B.A. in Elementary Education from Florida State University and has National Board Certification. In 2006, she was one of the finalists for teacher of the year for her district. Her experiences include over 21 years as a classroom teacher in all grades. Her main focus has been in the intermediate grades. Presently, she†loop with her class from 4th to 5th grade, thus keeping them for two years. Deborah has experience writing curriculum using the Backwards Design Process and has worked with the state to create, revise and edit the math questions used on the statewide test for fifth grade.
Developing and Aligning Engineering Elements in an Elementary School’s Integrated Engineering Curriculum
Background
Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary School was built in 2003 in a predominantly ethnically isolated inner city neighborhood. Its location facilitated ethnicity integration without the aid of a district assigned plan. During its first year of operation, the school applied for and received a three year grant from the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) that provided additional resources to support its curriculum and faculty development. The school has a K-5 student population with no special enrolment criteria and definitely functions as a typical neighborhood school. It has more than 600 students and at least 3 classrooms at each grade level. Student talents and abilities are normally distributed and there is no grouping of mainstream students by sections, test scores, and/or perceived ability. Every teacher at each grade level is expected to present the same curriculum and the topics and order of these presentations is driven by lesson plans that are horizontally and vertically integrated. A unique aspect of the curriculum and therefore a demand on its professional development plan is the fact that the school does not have a specific engineering instructional period but integrates the engineering content throughout the science, language arts, mathematics and physical education standards driven component of its educational mission. This approach forces each teacher to find ways to use these subjects to strengthen the understanding of the engineering topics being taught which then, in turn, enrich the student’s core “reading, writing and arithmetic” learning experiences.
Introduction
“Though children do engage in a naïve engineering of sorts, it can be the case that they do not hear the word engineer except in connection with railroad locomotives and do not know that their playful activity can be a lifelong profession. Grown-up engineering, which is as old as civilization, maintains the youth and vigor and imagination of a child. This is why, when presented to children on their own terms, the excitement of engineering is immediately apparent and fully comprehendible. There is no child too young to play and therefore to engage in engineering…”1
At Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary Center for Mathematics and Engineering, we, too, hold these beliefs as a strong foundation to building an integrated engineering curriculum at the elementary school level. However, like Henry Petroski, we also believe it is not only important to make children aware that what they are doing is engineering in its simplest form, but that exposing them to beginning engineering elements and explaining the “whys” of what they are doing is also vital. This is the premise upon which our journey began four years ago.
Curriculum Development
Being an inner city school with a mixed socioeconomic population of kindergartners through fifth grade students, the staff of Jamerson needed to make sure they provided a variety of
Little, R., & Parsons, C., & Van Driessche, P., & Barger, M., & Parsons, K., & Gilbert, R., & O'Hare, D. (2007, June), Developing And Aligning Engineering Elements In An Elementary School's Integrated Engineering Curriculum Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2274
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