Integrating Engineering Design Challenges into Secondary STEM Education

Engineering is being currently taught in the full spectrum of the P-12 system, with an emphasis on design-oriented teaching (Brophy, Klein, Portsmore, & Rogers, 2008). Due to only a small amount of research on the learning of engineering design in elementary and middle school settings, the community of practice lacks the necessary knowledge of the trajectory of students\u27 learning progressions towards design mastery and expertise and the appropriateness of otherwise established design pedagogies. The issue is even more pressing since many states are embedding engineering into their standards without a clear notion of how engineering (often conceptualized as design) works within existing standards (Strobel, Carr, Martinez-Lopez & Bravo, 2011). This paper synthesizes existing literature, which might provide us with insights on how to further investigate the issue of appropriate design pedagogies. At first, the paper contextualizes existing PBL research into engineering design. Second, the paper synthesizes the literature on inductive teaching and expert-novice differences as an additional literature base to conceptualize the role of design and engineering in the schooling system. Third, the paper contextualizes the questions on problem-appropriateness in engineering design into the current debate on engineering standards and their role in the P-12 education system

Rutgers University Research Experience For Teachers In Engineering: Preliminary Findings

In addressing the nation’s need for a more technologically-literate society, the Rutgers University Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering (RU RET-E) is designed to: (1) engage middle and high school math and science teachers in innovative “green” engineering research during the summer, and (2) support teachers in integrating their research experiences into their academic year, precollege classrooms. The current paper addresses the following two questions: (1) To what extent did RU RET-E impact participants? and (2) To what extent did participants implement resulting lesson plans? During the 2011 summer, seventeen math and science teachers (RU RET-E Fellows) engaged in “green” research alongside faculty and graduate students. Teachers were required to apply to the program in pairs as one math and one science teacher from the same school. The rationale was that the team would develop interdisciplinary lessons and that teachers would have a colleague at their school who shared the same experience as supports during the school year. The paper provides an overview of the summer experiences and the academic year follow-up activities. Data from the pre- and post-surveys and follow-up questionnaire about lesson implementation are presented. Preliminary data evidences that RU RET-E was successful in enhancing teachers’ understanding of engineering and supporting them as they designed lessons for their precollege classrooms. Most notably, teachers’ confidence in their ability to define engineering, describe what engineers do, generate challenging problems for advanced students and integrate engineering into their curriculum increased significantly.

Engineering Design Challenges in High School STEM Courses A Compilation of Invited Position Papers

Since its initial funding by the National Science Foundation in 2004, the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) has worked to understand the infusion of engineering design experiences into the high school setting. Over the years, an increasing number of educators and professional groups have participated in the expanding initiative seeking to acquaint all students with engineering design. While there is strong support for providing students with engineering design experiences in their high school STEM courses, the lack of consensus on purposes and strategies has become increasingly apparent as the work continues. Among the unsettled issues are the degree to which engineering design challenges should be open-ended or well-structured, the extent to which engineering habits of thought and action are employed in resolving the challenges; the relationships between engineering design experiences and standards-based instruction in STEM courses; and effective sequencing of age-appropriate engineering design challenges

La démarche de conception technologique dans les pratiques d'enseignement au secondaire au Québec : résultats d'une enquête par entrevues

Cette recherche s’inscrit dans les préoccupations récentes du système éducatif québécois à l’égard de l’éducation technologique d’une manière générale, et de l’enseignement de la démarche de conception technologique en particulier, au niveau secondaire. La récente réforme des programmes de formation de l’école québécoise marque une rupture avec les anciens programmes. Parmi les changements curriculaires majeurs qui marquent la récente réforme, il y a l’intégration des sciences et des technologies en une seule discipline scolaire obligatoire pour les quatre premières années du secondaire, le recours à l’approche par compétences, la prise en compte des problématiques sociales et l’adoption d’une perspective épistémologique constructiviste. Pour rendre compte de la contribution de l’éducation technologique à la formation des élèves, nous avons considéré une analyse à trois niveaux en nous basant sur les pratiques déclarées d’enseignants de science et technologie au secondaire. Le premier niveau est celui des contenus de cette discipline. Le deuxième niveau est celui des finalités que cette éducation poursuit. Le troisième niveau est celui des approches d’enseignement mises en œuvre pour enseigner les contenus de cette discipline. À la démarche de conception technologique correspond un processus qui permet de mettre en relation les contenus technologiques (disciplinaires), la conception d’une solution à un problème utile (réalisation) et à l’acquisition des concepts de cette discipline. Nous avons constaté, par une recherche bibliographique, que l’enseignement de ce processus, qui compose l’objet de notre recherche, est peu abordé par la recherche dans le contexte québécois: si l’enseignement des sciences et technologies a fait l’objet de plusieurs recherches abordant les enjeux qu’il véhicule et leurs liens avec la formation des jeunes, la démarche de conception technologique est très peu abordée dans le contexte québécois. Notre objectif général de recherche est de décrire les pratiques d’enseignement déclarées qui font appel à l’enseignement de la démarche de conception technologique. L’étude s’est basée sur des entrevues réalisées auprès de 19 enseignants de science et technologie au secondaire. Le cadre conceptuel retenu pour aborder notre objet de recherche se compose de trois concepts issus de la didactique de l’éducation technologique. Il s’agit, d’une part, de deux concepts disciplinaires, les savoirs technologiques et la démarche de conception technologique, et d’autre part, le troisième concept qui est celui des pratiques d’enseignement déclarées. Ce dernier concept nous sert de base pour élaborer notre cadre d’analyse qui sera ensuite mobilisé pour appréhender les pratiques déclarées lorsque les enseignants mettent en œuvre des situations d’enseignement-apprentissage basées sur la conception technologique en classe. Les résultats de l’étude montrent que les répondants entretiennent des conceptions et des définitions très variées à l’égard des caractéristiques de la démarche de conception technologique. Cela s’accompagne par une diversité de modalités de mise en œuvre de la démarche en classe. Pour certains, la situation d’enseignement-apprentissage présente, pour l’élève, un problème technologique à résoudre et sa résolution nécessite une démarche rigoureuse qui finira par la conception d’un objet répondant au besoin de départ, alors que pour d’autres, bien que leur situation d’apprentissage présente un problème, la démarche de résolution est laissée au tâtonnement et, dans ce cas, l’élève peut ou pas arriver à un produit final répondant au problème. Dans d’autres cas, la situation d’enseignement-apprentissage proposée pour l’élève présente non seulement un problème technique à résoudre, mais également sa solution. Pour construire son objet technique, l’élève n’a qu’à suivre la démarche fournie par l’enseignant, l’expert. En outre, les objectifs du recours à la démarche de conception révèlent une centration sur les finalités soit d’ordre psychopédagogique (différentiation pédagogique, motivation et engagement des élèves, bonne méthode de travail, etc.), soit d’ordre sociologique (travail en équipe, collaboration, construction des connaissances en communauté, etc.). Quatre répondants seulement ont évoqué les finalités d’ordre épistémologique (comprendre les problèmes technologiques complexes, proposer différentes solutions aux problèmes technologiques, comprendre et donner du sens aux concepts technologiques, etc.). Cette étude confirme une problématique dans les pratiques des enseignants lorsqu’ils traitent des contenus de l’univers technologique en général et de la démarche de conception en particulier

Project-based service-learning as logo-pedagogy : teaching for existential purpose in pre-college engineering education

The imperative for bolstering engineering education at the precollege level is usually framed within the context of improving U.S. global competitiveness but this potentially cheapens the inherent value of an engineering education and obfuscates the potentially socially purposeful aspects of engineering. Drawing from design-based research, this case study examines how a project-based service-learning (PBSL) engineering design unit contributed to students’ sense of purpose in life and perceptions of engineering. It takes an ecological approach in that it considers the perspectives of students, the teacher, professional engineering mentors to understand and outline guiding principles for PBSL engineering experiences at the pre-college level. Student perspectives on the PBSL unit centered around six themes: impact of the unit; affect; meaningfulness; learning; teamwork/collaboration; and, agency. Three themes characterized student reflections on purpose in life: notions of purpose in life; student purposefulness; career aspirations. Students also discussed engineering along two broader themes of their: engineering notions and engineering interests. The educators’ (teacher and mentors) perspectives on teaching priorities and strategies for the unit aligned along seven themes: exposure; messages about engineering; hands-on/physical experience; encouraging student ideas; room for mistakes and failure; teamwork; and involving expert engineers. They identified at least six positive aspects of the unit: exposure; engineering design process and habits-of-mind; authenticity; motivation and purposefulness; student ideas; and student accomplishment. Conversely, they also discussed at least four primary areas of improvement: facilitating teamwork; adhering to design specifications and constraints; involving expert engineers throughout the process; and timing. Overall, the findings suggest that student participation in PBSL engineering units can contribute to their purpose development by facilitating opportunities for socially purposeful engagement within a STEM context. Furthermore, PBSL engineering units concretize the socially purposeful aspects of engineering, subverting wider public perceptions of engineering as a socially-unconcerned profession. Future PBSL engineering units at the pre-college level should emphasize: student input, ideas, and hands-on engagement; process over outcome, especially the engineering design process; involving the community; and, reflection.Curriculum and Instructio

Seis Sigma: sistema de gestão e metodologia de inovação numa abordagem estruturada e integradora

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia IndustrialAs rápidas transformações tecnológicas, sociais e económicas, que têm caracterizado este início de século XXI, colocam inúmeros e inéditos desafios à maioria das organizações. Confrontadas com tal realidade, empresas e instituições procuram manter uma posição competitiva e sustentável no mercado, através da adopção de modelos de boas práticas de gestão organizacional e de métodos eficazes para apoiar os seus processos de inovação, que lhes permitam criar valor para os clientes e para o negócio numa base contínua. Neste sentido, os principais desafios que nortearam a realização deste trabalho de investigação concentraram-se em duas áreas. Na primeira, pretendeu-se desenvolver soluções que demonstrassem a possibilidade e as vantagens de perspectivar o Seis Sigma enquanto sistema de gestão, permitindo assim articulá-lo com vários dos mais relevantes referenciais e modelos de gestão existentes. A segunda área centrou-se no Seis Sigma enquanto metodologia, especialmente na abordagem de Projecto para Seis Sigma (DFSS – Design for Six Sigma), tendo-se procurado universalizar a sua aplicabilidade em diferentes contextos de inovação e na eventual presença de fenómenos de variedade espacial, geracional e/ou temporal de requisitos. Desenvolveu-se um conjunto abrangente de modelos que visam fornecer às organizações, independentemente da sua dimensão e dos sectores de actividade em que actuem, mecanismos que lhes permitam implementar um programa Seis Sigma, integrando-o de forma fácil e proveitosa no seu sistema global de gestão. Dada a sua relevância, os modelos de integração focalizaram-se na articulação do Seis Sigma com os referenciais de gestão da qualidade (ISO 9001), ambiente (ISO 14001) e segurança e saúde do trabalho (OHSAS 18001), para acreditação de laboratórios de ensaios e calibração (ISO/IEC 17025) e de entidades inspectoras (ISO/IEC 17020), bem como com o referencial de melhores práticas para a gestão dos serviços de tecnologias de informação (ITIL). A aplicação e validação da maioria destes modelos foi efectuada em duas organizações de dimensões e áreas de negócio distintas. Neste trabalho propôs-se também um modelo que permite contextualizar qualquer tipo de projecto Seis Sigma a executar, tendo por base a definição e tipificação dos factores morfologia (dimensão associada ao tipo de inovação) e maturidade (dimensão associada ao nível de inovação). Este modelo permite não só distinguir os projectos de DFSS, que envolvem fenómenos de inovação substancial ou radical, dos de melhoria contínua, mas também auxiliar na escolha concreta do mapa metodológico a adoptar na execução do projecto. Especificamente, em relação a projectos de DFSS, foi desenvolvida uma metodologia, assente no mapa IDOV, que pode usada em diferentes contextos de morfologia e maturidade, assim como na presença de diferentes tipos de variedade, uma dimensão que está associada à heterogeneidade dos requisitos de projecto a satisfazer pelo sistema a conceber e desenvolver. Esta metodologia de DFSS foi ainda enquadrada num modelo de gestão do ciclo de vida de projectos Seis Sigma. A aplicação e validação da metodologia de DFSS foi efectuada em duas organizações de sectores de actividade distintos