The Engineering Design in Scientific Inquiry (EDISIn) Project addresses the engineering preparation of secondary science teachers by embedding engineering design into a science course for single-subject STEM education majors (future secondary teachers), and developing a sequence of lesson plans and annotated video for faculty who seek to embed engineering design in their science courses. While undergraduate laboratories are rich with designed experimental apparatus, it is rare that students themselves play a role in designing and producing artifacts in the service of scientific inquiry. Our expectation is that (1) existing science courses offer opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with engineering practices, by solving design challenges that emerge in the construction of scientific ideas; and (2) doing so can capitalize on existing curricula that science education has developed, facilitating the adoption of engineering design into preservice teacher education. As part of NSF’s IUSE funding program (1712051), this proposal is part of a broader effort to transform undergraduate science education, preparing students to be innovators and leaders in STEM.
In this presentation for ASEE, we will describe the design challenges that emerged in an inquiry into energy, and the ways in which these challenges and their solutions both mirrored and differed from more traditional engineering design challenges. We discuss implications for introducing engineering design in the context of scientific inquiry.
Leslie Atkins Elliott is a Professor of Curriculum, Instruction and Foundational Studies at Boise State University, specializing in Science Education. Her research focuses on fostering participation in the practices of science - particularly writing and design - and how science instruction can reduce barriers between classrooms and everyday life. Her work with scientific practices emphasizes students’ rights to their own ideas and the emergence of scientific practices, including design, from disciplinary engagement with those ideas.
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