Collaborative Research: Design and Development: NGSS-aligned Museum-based Engineering Education Program with Classroom Extensions

Moxi, The Wolf Museum Of Exploration + Innovation, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Engaging in solving problems through engineering design develops the critical thinking and problem solving skills needed to address future societal and environmental challenges. In order to develop such skills in all learners, the new K-12 science standards and the Next Generation Science Standards include engineering design as a significant focus across all grade levels - from kindergarten through high school. However, integrating engineering design into their curriculum will be a significant challenge for teachers nationwide, as K-12 teachers are not prepared to facilitate high quality engineering design activities and generally have little knowledge or experience related to engineering. New models of instruction and teacher development are needed. This design and development project will create an engineering education program that links students' field trip experiences in an interactive science center directly to classroom experiences while helping teachers learn about teaching engineering design through working with their own students. The project will serve as a sustainable model for helping teachers develop expertise and confidence in facilitating engineering design curricula. Improving K-12 teachers' capacity to engage students in authentic engineering design is a critical step towards increasing the number of students pursuing an engineering career. This project will follow a design-based research model focused on the design and testing of an intervention through multiple iterations and will involve a collaborative partnership between a university and an interactive science center. The intervention will consist of engineering design field trip experiences and coordinated classroom lesson plans to be conducted in K-12 classrooms before and after the field trips. Teachers will be supported through an online guide and curricular supports within the lesson plans. Qualitative and quantitative data collected will include observations, video recordings, pre- and post-assessments, interviews of students and teachers, surveys and examples of student work. Analysis will focus on two primary areas: (1) Identifying the learning opportunities for students through coordinated field trip and classroom extension programs that engage students in engineering design and (2) Identifying the curricular features that support teachers in effective engineering design instruction and lead to teacher learning about facilitating engineering design curriculum. Research in these areas will lead to best practices for developing engineering design curriculum and facilitation that advance both student and teacher learning. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.