WISEngineering: A Web-based Engineering Design Learning Environment

Peter Thomas Malcolm; Jennifer L. Chiu; Edward Pan; M. David Burghardt

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: New and Innovative Ideas
Tagged Division: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 25.1480.1 - 25.1480.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22237
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22237
Download Count: 618

Paper Authors

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Peter Thomas Malcolm University of Virginia

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Peter T. Malcolm, p.malcolm@virginia.edu, is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia (UVA), Charlottesville. His primary interest is in developing software to help elementary and middle school students collaborate to understand and interact with STEM concepts.

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Abstract

Developing WISE into WISEngineeringWeb-based systems for education have tremendous potential to leverage interactivity,information resources, and online collaboration in the classroom. The Web-based InquiryScience Environment (WISE) from the University of California at Berkeley has successfullyincorporated many of these components. In this paper we introduce WISEngineering, a newcurriculum delivery, assessment, and feedback system that builds on and extends WISE to teachengineering design to middle school and high school students. The original WISE system hasbeen widely used by teachers and students around the world for science education. It hasfacilitated science teaching from upper elementary through high school. It has also providededucation researchers with valuable data about student learning (Linn, Clark & Slotta, 2003;Linn, Davis & Bell, 2004).WISE successfully supports science learning by guiding students through step-by-step inquiryand reflection. For WISEngineering, we have identified modifications that can be made to thesystem to support reflective engineering design (Adams, Turns & Atman, 2003). Engineeringeducation differs from science education in that it is centered on an iterative design processrather than an inquiry model. WISEngineering extends WISE by including scaffolds, such as ashared virtual wall for collaboration and a student design portfolio, to support engineeringeducation. Learning modules that we build for the WISEngineering platform will involveextensive hands-on engineering for real-world problems. Students’ digital designs inWISEngineering will form the blueprint for real artifacts students will build, test, and then returnto the WISEngineering forum to reflect upon and refine.In this paper, we describe WISEngineering, including the extensions and modifications we havemade to WISE to support engineering education. We discuss the design decisions and skillsrequired in order to develop these extensions, preliminary user feedback and usability datacollected by the system, as well as performance and security issues. Our primary audienceincludes researchers and STEM educators in K-12 who understand the potential of engineeringto engage students and interest them in related fields and careers. We anticipate thatWISEngineering will be a valuable tool to facilitate engineering education. Our description ofthe development process may also prove useful for those who are extending WISE, those whoare extending or modifying existing web-based educational environments, and those who aredeveloping new web-based educational environments.REFERENCES:Adams, R. S., Turns, J., & Atman, C. J. (2003). Educating effective engineering designers: the role of reflective practice. Design Studies, 24, 3, 275-294.Linn, M. C., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. D. (2003). WISE Design for Knowledge Integration. Science Education, 87, 4, 517-38.Linn, M. C., Davis, E. A., & Bell, P. (2004). Internet environments for science education. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Citation
Format

Malcolm, P. T., & Chiu, J. L., & Pan, E., & Burghardt, M. D. (2012, June), WISEngineering: A Web-based Engineering Design Learning Environment Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22237

TY - CPAPER
AB - Developing WISE into WISEngineeringWeb-based systems for education have tremendous potential to leverage interactivity,information resources, and online collaboration in the classroom. The Web-based InquiryScience Environment (WISE) from the University of California at Berkeley has successfullyincorporated many of these components. In this paper we introduce WISEngineering, a newcurriculum delivery, assessment, and feedback system that builds on and extends WISE to teachengineering design to middle school and high school students. The original WISE system hasbeen widely used by teachers and students around the world for science education. It hasfacilitated science teaching from upper elementary through high school. It has also providededucation researchers with valuable data about student learning (Linn, Clark &amp; Slotta, 2003;Linn, Davis &amp; Bell, 2004).WISE successfully supports science learning by guiding students through step-by-step inquiryand reflection. For WISEngineering, we have identified modifications that can be made to thesystem to support reflective engineering design (Adams, Turns &amp; Atman, 2003). Engineeringeducation differs from science education in that it is centered on an iterative design processrather than an inquiry model. WISEngineering extends WISE by including scaffolds, such as ashared virtual wall for collaboration and a student design portfolio, to support engineeringeducation. Learning modules that we build for the WISEngineering platform will involveextensive hands-on engineering for real-world problems. Students’ digital designs inWISEngineering will form the blueprint for real artifacts students will build, test, and then returnto the WISEngineering forum to reflect upon and refine.In this paper, we describe WISEngineering, including the extensions and modifications we havemade to WISE to support engineering education. We discuss the design decisions and skillsrequired in order to develop these extensions, preliminary user feedback and usability datacollected by the system, as well as performance and security issues. Our primary audienceincludes researchers and STEM educators in K-12 who understand the potential of engineeringto engage students and interest them in related fields and careers. We anticipate thatWISEngineering will be a valuable tool to facilitate engineering education. Our description ofthe development process may also prove useful for those who are extending WISE, those whoare extending or modifying existing web-based educational environments, and those who aredeveloping new web-based educational environments.REFERENCES:Adams, R. S., Turns, J., &amp; Atman, C. J. (2003). Educating effective engineering designers: the role of reflective practice. Design Studies, 24, 3, 275-294.Linn, M. C., Clark, D., &amp; Slotta, J. D. (2003). WISE Design for Knowledge Integration. Science Education, 87, 4, 517-38.Linn, M. C., Davis, E. A., &amp; Bell, P. (2004). Internet environments for science education. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
AU - Peter Thomas Malcolm
AU - Jennifer L. Chiu
AU - Edward Pan
AU - M. David Burghardt
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2012/06/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - WISEngineering: A Web-based Engineering Design Learning Environment
UR - https://peer.asee.org/22237
DO - 10.18260/1-2--22237
ER -