Biggers, M., & Haefner, L. A., & Bell, J. (2016, June), Elementary Teachers' Use of Engineering Curriculum Materials (Fundamental)  Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26925

\bibitem{asee_peer_26925}
  Biggers, M., \& Haefner, L. A., \& Bell, J. (2016, June), \emph{Elementary Teachers' Use of Engineering Curriculum Materials (Fundamental)}
  Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  10.18260/p.26925

Mandy Biggers, Leigh Ann Haefner, and Jonathan Bell.  "Elementary Teachers' Use of Engineering Curriculum Materials (Fundamental)".  2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2016.  https://peer.asee.org/26925 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_26925}
  Mandy Biggers, Leigh Ann Haefner, and Jonathan Bell.
  "Elementary Teachers' Use of Engineering Curriculum Materials (Fundamental)".
  \emph{2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2016, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2016.
  https://peer.asee.org/26925 Internet.  24 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_26925
author = "Mandy Biggers, Leigh Ann Haefner, and Jonathan Bell"
title = "Elementary Teachers' Use of Engineering Curriculum Materials (Fundamental)"
booktitle = "2016 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2016"
month = "June"
address = "New Orleans, Louisiana"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/26925}
number = {10.18260/p.26925}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - 
Engineering practices are included as an explicit focus in the Next Generation Science Standards.  Science and engineering compliment each other in many ways, and each teaches students a different skill set.  Elementary teachers have had little to no training on incorporating engineering and science.  Elementary teachers also rely heavily on their curriculum materials, which stems from a combination of factors: (1) low self-efficacy for teaching science, (2) lack of deep content knowledge in science, and (3) de-emphasis of science in elementary schools in favor of math and reading.  This reliance also lends the elementary curriculum to be taught with high levels of fidelity (“as-is”).  However, teachers should be able to adapt curriculum materials to meet the needs of their learners and incorporate engineering practices into existing science curriculum materials.  It stands to reason that if elementary teachers rely heavily on science curriculum materials, then with even less training in engineering than in science, they would rely on engineering curriculum materials as well.  No such research exists on elementary teachers’ use of engineering curriculum materials.

With the release of the NGSS, curriculum developers are scrambling to develop and publish curricula that incorporate all aspects of STEM literacy and (specifically) incorporate science and engineering practices.  Even if such materials were available tomorrow, it would still take years for districts to pilot, adopt, and implement them.  In the meantime, teachers are expected to incorporate engineering practices into existing science curriculum materials with little to no training on how to do so.  Although elementary engineering curricula exist, they are (1) relatively new to the market, and (2) typically not integrated with science or other curriculum materials.  The disciplines are still taught as independent ‘silos’ which defeats the purpose of integrated STEM education.  

This research explored the ways in which elementary teachers integrated science and engineering in their classrooms while piloting new curriculum units.  Findings associated with the implementation aspects of a larger study that examined how elementary teachers incorporate engineering into their science classes, and how they integrate engineering into their science lessons will be presented.  Specifically the questions that guided this study were:
In what ways do elementary teachers integrate engineering and science?
What science content do they integrate into engineering units?
What adaptations do they make to engineering curriculum?
What factors influence teachers’ choices for making these adaptations?

	This study occurred in a large, urban school district in their first year piloting Engineering is Elementary curriculum in grades 1-6.  Six teachers volunteered as case-study subjects, videorecorded their EiE lessons, and were interviewed over the course of the EiE unit.  Videos (n=31) averaged 34 minutes in length.  Analysis revealed (1) very little science content integrated into the engineering lessons and (2) a continuum of fidelity to the engineering curriculum by the six teachers.  Some of the factors affecting incorporation of science into engineering included (1) alignment of chosen science and engineering curriculum units, and (2) instructional goals and preparation of the teachers.

AU  - Mandy Biggers
AU  - Leigh Ann Haefner
AU  - Jonathan Bell
CY  - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA  - 2016/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Elementary Teachers' Use of Engineering Curriculum Materials (Fundamental)
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/26925
DO  - 10.18260/p.26925
ER  -