Do Engineering Curricula Improve Science and Mathematics Learning in Elementary S

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application addresses broad Challenge Area (12) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education (STEM) and specific Challenge Topic, 12-OD-101 K-12 schools across the nation are implementing or considering implementing various curricula that use engineering. From high school curricula that are fairly comprehensive (i.e. Project Lead the Way) to textbooks intended for middle or high school courses (i.e. Survey of Engineering from Great Lakes Press) to elementary school after school clubs based on activities from engineering societies and more comprehensive sets of activities (i.e. Engineering is Elementary from the Museum of Science, Boston), enthusiasm for engineering in K-12 is increasing. These curricular activities have different foci from increasing technological literacy to encouraging students to pursue engineering. Although those of us who are engineers are enthusiastic about this trend, to date, there is only cursory assessment data available to indicate the efficacy of any of these approaches to meeting their respective goals. Consequently, there is no guarantee that the overall affect on the fields of engineering won't be negative, if these activities become nothing more than an educational "fad." Solid research on the ability of engineering curricula to support solid student learning is needed. This proposal describes a project designed to comprehensively assess student learning with an elementary school curriculum (Engineering is Elementary) and a comprehensive implementation in math, science, language arts, social studies and technological literacy. North Carolina State University Colleges of Engineering and Education propose to partner with Wake and New Hanover County Public Schools, and the Museum of Science, Boston to support existing implementations of engineering magnet elementary schools in each county. The implementation will be extensively studied with regards to the goals of increasing student learning for all subgroups of students, with a focus on decreasing achievement gaps between subgroups. Public Health Relevance: The proposed project is relevant to public health in the broadest sense. The goal of the project is to thoroughly assess the efficacy of a delivery method for effective teaching and learning in K-12 science education. If the methods are proven successful, this will have far-reaching implications for science instruction nation-wide that will support the matriculation of K-12 students into STEM fields of all types and support deeper public understanding of science. If the methods are proven ineffective, this result will be similarly important.