Pages: 9

This chapter presents an example of engineering in a fifth-grade classroom as an introduction to what engineering education can look like in a K-8 classroom. The classroom vignette shares what the process looks like for one group of students who have chosen to solve a problem they have identified in their own classroom. The chapter will describe the authors’ philosophy about working with teachers and engineering with students to frame the rest of the book. Finally, the chapter will outline the different sections of the book and possible ways readers can move through the book and use it as a resource, regardless of their experience with engineering.

Pages: 8

Chapter 2 explores the concept of engineering and how teachers can apply this concept in a K-8 classroom. This chapter begins with a brief description of what engineering is, what engineers do, and what the goals of engineering are. Different aspects of professional engineering will be discussed in relation to their relevance to K-8 students and how these aspects can be adapted. As engineering is reimagined for children, educators can build on their students’ assets while responding to their ideas. Responding and connecting to students’ ideas provides opportunities for teachers to be culturally responsive as well.

Pages: 15

This chapter focuses on students’ engineering skills and practices, with examples of students engaged in engineering projects situated within a variety of contexts using multiple resources. A series of vignettes will show the wide range of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students gain while engaging in engineering, which go beyond simply constructing devices. Through engineering instruction and practice, students improve their conceptual knowledge of related disciplines, executive functioning, social emotional learning, and appreciation for how engineering impacts the world.

Pages: 13

This chapter focuses on the role of the teacher as a facilitator who responds consistently to individual students’ needs and fosters diverse ideas, attitudes, and ways of working. In a responsive engineering classroom, educators leverage students’ strengths and experiences, building their confidence to envision the ways engineering connects to their lives. There are many decisions to make before your students start engineering, such as which activity to choose and how to structure the students’ time, which we will discuss in later chapters. This chapter focuses on creating a classroom culture that is conducive to facilitating engineering in a supportive manner. Norms are examined related to creating a positive classroom culture as well as strategies effective to promote a responsive engineering classroom.

Pages: 20

This chapter discusses the characteristics of engineering activities that develop students’ engineering skills and knowledge. We’ll outline principles of these design activities and provide concrete, classroom-based examples of the different ways students engage in them. For example, one principle is to provide relevant design contexts that connect to students’ own interests and assets. Another principle is to build an activity flow in which students have multiple opportunities for agency from picking and scoping a problem to choosing their own solution path. This chapter also introduces a framework to help teachers design and assess engineering design activities. The framework presents engineering practices and skills in a flexible format allowing teachers to tailor engineering projects to specific aspects. In other words, not all projects will address every aspect of the framework. For example, students may practice planning as they create a conceptual plan without executing the plan. This chapter gives readers foundational knowledge supported by examples of engineering tasks so they can plan activities within their own context, which is the focus of the next chapter.

Pages: 21

Chapter 6 goes “inside the minds” of two teachers as they design, implement, and reflect on two divergent engineering experiences, providing examples of the teacher decision-making behind engineering instruction in K-8 classrooms. The teachers in the case studies have different contexts and learning goals, but the decision-making process is similar. They both spend time in the planning stage anticipating what their students may do and thinking about ways to grow norms around engineering. Through the cases in this chapter, we show how to craft an engineering experience that supports creating a collaborative, inclusive engineering culture in your classroom. This culture includes upholding specific classroom expectations around idea sharing, failure, iteration, and collaborative knowledge building. Finally, we explore different routines to develop sense-making and decision-making skills during and after building times.

Pages: 19

In this chapter, we will explore a single introductory engineering activity to illustrate how teachers can take first steps with engineering in the classroom. Specifically, we will 1) present a case study of a simple launching activity, Chair for a Bear, that educators can use to introduce open-ended engineering to students and 2) offer strategies to support students as they move through the design process. In our work, we often use this activity to introduce the concepts of requirements, constraints, testing, and iteration. Students build a chair for a stuffed animal that is unable to sit up by itself. This chapter covers how to introduce the activity and materials, how to get students started, and how to structure design share-outs. Also presented is an example of a mid-design review in which students share knowledge, offer advice, and get feedback on their designs. The chapter offers an array of educator moves that support this collaborative practice to show how teachers can promote collective knowledge building rather than design rankings. The final section of the chapter details ways that students can share their ideas and their work at multiple points in the design process.

Pages: 19

In this chapter, we present several introductory activities designed to cultivate engineering practices and skills. In one activity, students work with a fan-based wind tunnel to make multiple iterations. In another activity, students build pencil holders for their desks to promote thinking about a client and designing to meet criteria and constraints. Both tasks are fun and present little risk, which allows students to encounter repetitive failures and iterations. In addition, this chapter will address facilitation options for teachers to support inclusivity, students’ individual goals, and classroom goals.

Pages: 8

In this chapter, we discuss how writing, drawing, and photographs can support engineering thinking. The chapter is organized according to the three phases of engineering design: defining, iterating, and sharing. Writing, drawing, and taking pictures occur in all three phases, but they serve a different purpose in each of the phases. This chapter offers options for student work in each of these phases and shares examples of student work.

Pages: 12

In this chapter, we discuss different types of whole-class conversations that teachers can facilitate as students are engineering. While engineering often includes a hands-on component, whole-class discussions aid students in developing knowledge on a topic and support collaboration. Whole-class discussions deepen students’ understanding of their designs, as well as the people, animals, and environments the designs impact. We present five types of conversations, or design talks, giving examples of classroom facilitation.

Pages: 11

In this chapter, we explore ways to enable all students to participate. Through engineering, teachers can build inclusive classroom communities that can give students confidence to see value in their skills, knowledge, and experiences. Additionally, students gain access to practices and skills that are applicable in many contexts and therefore may come to view engineering as a welcoming and inclusive field. This chapter offers strategies for supporting students as they move through the design process with a focus on activity framing, engineering learning, executive functioning, and social emotional learning.

Pages: 8

In this chapter, we discuss considerations for selecting materials used in K-8 engineering design projects, ranging from craft and office supplies to tools and robotics. Decision points for selecting and using materials throughout the engineering design process are also discussed. This chapter provides scaffolds to help teachers choose relevant materials with the associated benefits and constraints. Also included are ideas on how to structure time for students to become familiar with new materials and how and when to introduce materials with attention to equity. This chapter also presents tools strategies teachers have used when addressing these decision points, for instance a student-generated materials catalog and examples of student conversations about materials. These examples will help readers anticipate potential conversations with their own students.

Pages: 15

Assessment in engineering presents a unique challenge for many teachers because projects are generally open-ended allowing for multiple creative solutions. In this chapter, we share tools to assess projects beyond whether or how well the device works as intended. We discusses formative assessment through exploratory low-stakes projects that help educators understand their students’ strengths and weaknesses. The summative assessment section gives concrete examples of ways to conduct assessments, such as portfolios, and how these assessments provide information to both teachers and students.

Pages: 9

In this chapter, we share examples of several engineering design sequences and longer, open-ended design challenges. The sequences are structured so that students engage in different engineering skills during different projects, with more skills being needed as students work through the sequence. The activities in the sequence move from highly structured to more open-ended, with the goal being to increase students’ agency. The chapter includes open-ended activities based on real client needs in which students select their own problem to work on. Included at the end of the chapter is a planning tool for teachers that can be used to develop activities or help teachers think about how to present existing activities.