Do Engineering Curricula Improve Science and Mathematics Learning in Elementary S

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请涉及广泛的挑战领域（12）科学，技术，工程和数学教育（STEM）和具体的挑战主题，12- od -101全国K-12学校正在实施或考虑实施各种使用工程的课程。从相当全面的高中课程（如Project Lead the Way）到初中或高中课程的教科书（如大湖出版社的工程调查），再到小学基于工程学会活动的课后俱乐部和更全面的活动（如波士顿科学博物馆的工程是小学），K-12对工程的热情正在增加。这些课程活动有不同的侧重点，从提高技术素养到鼓励学生追求工程。尽管我们这些工程师对这一趋势充满热情，但到目前为止，只有粗略的评估数据可以表明这些方法在实现各自目标方面的有效性。因此，如果这些活动仅仅成为一种教育“时尚”，就不能保证对工程领域的总体影响不会是负面的。需要对工程课程支持学生扎实学习的能力进行扎实的研究。该提案描述了一个项目，旨在全面评估学生在小学课程（工程是小学）的学习情况，并在数学、科学、语言艺术、社会研究和技术素养方面进行全面实施。北卡罗莱纳州立大学工程与教育学院提议与威克和新汉诺威县公立学校以及波士顿科学博物馆合作，以支持每个县现有的工程磁铁小学的实施。将根据提高所有学生分组学习的目标对实施情况进行广泛研究，重点是减少分组之间的成绩差距。

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.