Developing Pre-service Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Engineering Design Integrated Science Teaching, and Assessing the Impact on Student Learning

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The current US National framework for K-12 science education requires teachers to teach science through engineering design. However, many science teachers have no training in this area. Therefore, there is an urgent need to train teachers in the concepts of engineering design and methods for teaching it. There is also a need to collect research evidence on how teachers develop knowledge for teaching science through engineering design and the effect of their teaching practices on student learning. This research project is training pre-service science teachers in engineering design, developing their knowledge for teaching science through engineering design, and assessing the impact on their students' learning of and attitudes towards engineering design and science. Results from the project are providing research evidence on the development of pre-service teachers' knowledge of teaching science through engineering design, the resulting instructional practices, and the impact on student learning and attitude towards engineering design and science. This project will impact at least 1000 high school students directly, teaching them principle of engineering design. The impact of the project will be further magnified through the development of a manual on effective approaches for teaching engineering design in high schools. Ultimately, the goal of the project is to provide proven resources for preparing the future workforce for engineering challenges of the future.The New Framework for K-12 Science Education, and the Next Generation Science Education Standards accentuate the integration of engineering design in K-12 science classrooms. However, many science teachers lack knowledge of engineering design. Likewise, there is a paucity of research on science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of engineering design integrated science (EDIS) teaching, and its effect on student achievement in engineering design and science. Clearly, the success of engineering design in K-12 science will largely depend on teachers' understanding of engineering design and their pedagogical content knowledge of EDIS teaching. Therefore, this study is addressing four objectives: train high school pre-service science teachers in engineering design; measure the development of the pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of engineering design integrated science instruction; facilitate pre-service teachers' implementation of EDIS units in high schools; and assess the effect of the pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of engineering integrated science instruction on students' learning of and attitudes towards engineering design and science. The sample is comprised of two cohorts of 34 pre-service science teachers and 1428 high school students. The project is employing a two-cohort cluster randomized trial with repeated measures design of pre- and post-measures, where high school science classes serve as the cluster level. Each pre-service teacher is teaching two science classes in high schools. Two classes nested within each pre-service teacher are divided into two groups, Traditional group and Engineering Design group. The Traditional group serves as a baseline for comparison to the Engineering Design group. Data is being collected using the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of EDIS Science Teaching instrument, the Engineering Design Skills and Engineering Design Attitudes questionnaire, Knowledge Integration Content Knowledge tests, the Engineering Design Process Knowledge Instrument, and the revised Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Multilevel and structural equation modeling and analytic induction are the data analysis techniques. The results will provide empirical evidence on the development of pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of EDIS teaching, the resulting instructional practices, and the impact on student learning and attitude towards engineering design and science. The project will significantly impact pre-service science teachers' engineering design skills, instructional practice, and student learning and attitude towards engineering design.