Designing Elementary Engineering Education from the Perspective of the Young Child

Researcher: Beth Dykstra Van Meeteren, Ed. D., University of Northern Iowa

As we were developing the Ramps and Pathways curriculum with 3 to 8-year-old children, we were fascinated with how engaged the children were year after year with Ramps and Pathways. They never seemed to tire of it. Were they that intrigued with force and motion? As I read the National Research Council's publication, Engineering in K-12 Education, it appeared to me that children may not have just been fascinated with opportunities to engage in rudimentary physics, it may have been the appeal of designing and engineering that was so engaging for the children.

Research Questions

A small research study observed and analyzed the actions of first-grade children in a constructivist classroom as they engaged in Ramps and Pathways. The study focused on the children's actions as they constructed their own technology of marble runs. The constant comparative method was used to (a) describe and catalog children's actions; (b) describe and categorize the different design process tools young children independently used; and (c) identify children's behaviors that potentially represented precursors to engineering habits of mind. The following research questions were used to guide the investigation:

1. What engineering habits of mind do young children engage with as they design and build structures during independent open-ended explorations that can lead to investigations?

2. What design process tools do primary grade students employ to construct structures used in Ramps and Pathways systems?

3. Is it essential for children to follow a linear design model to engage in the design process?

4. What kinds of problems can young children pose to themselves as they design and build?

 

Findings

Kinds of Problems Children Pose or Encounter

Macro Problem

How will I make the marble move using the materials provided?

Meso-Design Problems

• Straight Pathways
  • Making objects move on single section ramps of any length
  • Making objects continue to move on a series of tracks on a straight pathway
  • Making objects continue to move on a series of tracks on a straight pathway with target at end

  • Making objects continue to move on a pathway with hills

  • Making objects continue to move on a pathway with a drop

  • Making objects continue to move on a pathway with a jump

• Changing Directions
  • Making objects turn a corner
  • Making objects continue to move on a pathway with angles not requiring a banking system
  • Making objects continue to move on a pathway with angles requiring a banking system
  • Making objects reverse direction (switchbacks)
• More Than One Moving Part
  • Making objects continue to move on a pathway with fulcrums
• Targets
  • Making objects move (roll, fall, fly, etc.) into a containers
  • Making objects knock down or crash into a target (blocks, domino, animals, cars, etc.)

 

Micro-Problems

• Slope
  • Movement or non-movement of an object (getting an object to move or stay)
  • Moving objects farther
  • Moving object faster and slower (to negotiate corners, switchbacks, drops, jumps, and hills)
• Objects
  • Categorizing characteristics of objects according to how they move on an incline
  • Categorizing characteristics of objects according to how far they move
  • Categorizing characteristics of objects according to their speed or how fast they move
  • Categorizing characteristics of objects according to difficulty in changing its direction
• Supports

  • Centering on one end of a supported ramp section and not the other end

  • Constructing a stable support (solid foundation, tall narrow blocks as opposed to a stable stack of blocks, etc.)

  • Placement of support to hold up ramp section

  • Placement of support to control degree of slope

  • Efficient placement of supports to build economically

• Method of Connecting
  • Making objects move over a butted connection
  • Making objects move over an overlapping connection
  • Making objects continue to move along a pathway with a drop connection
  • Making objects continue to move along a pathway with a jump connection
  • Making objects continue to move along a pathway with a variety of angled connections

 

Comparing Definitions for Engineering Habits of Mind

Term	NRC (2008) Definition of Engineering Habits of Mind	Operational Definitions of Engineering Habits of Mind in Young Children
Systems Thinking	Equips students to recognize essential interconnections in the technological world Appreciate that systems may have unexpected effects that cannot be predicted from the behavior of individual subsystems	Adjusts both ends of a track After adjusting one component, coordinates positions of other components before testing
Creativity	Inherent (part of the very nature of something, and therefore permanently characteristic of it or necessarily involved in it)	Generates own design Flips, rotates, or repurpose materials Considers different ways of arranging supports, tracks, barriers Resists premature closure by continuing to add to complexity even after a successful test
Optimism	A world view in which possibilities and opportunities can be found in every challenge An understanding that every technology can be improved	Does not abandon structure after a failed test Uses failed tests as opportunities to find solutions Tries again after multiple failed tests
Collaboration	Leverages the perspectives, knowledge, and capabilities of team members to address a design challenge	Asks for help from a peer Considers suggestions of a peer Asks to test a peer’s system Uses peer’s system as a model Provides encouragement and/or advice to a peer
Communication	Essential to effective collaboration, Essential to understanding the particular wants of a customer Essential to explain and justify the final design solution	Shares success of structure with peer Explains success of structure with a peer Asks for help and discusses problem with peer Offers advice to a peer Volunteers to build for another and asks what the peer wants in a design Writes or draws about system
Attention to Ethical Considerations	Draws attention to the impacts of engineering on people Draws attention to the Impact of engineering on the environment Considers possible unintended consequences of technology Considers the potential disproportionate advantages of disadvantages of technology for certain groups or individuals	Coordinates use of space with peers Coordinates use of materials with peers Takes responsibility for knock downs Considers safety