Developing teachers’ understandings of engineering and technology is critical if they are to prepare their students for the 21st century and build the foundation for the next generation of technicians and engineers. The Advancing Technological Literacy and Skills of Elementary Educators (ATLAS) program at the Museum of Science, Boston, has been funded through the Advanced Technological Education division of the National Science Foundation. The program is currently testing a variety of models for enriching pre-service teacher education courses with engineering and technology. For the past three years, we have been working collaboratively with teams of community college education and science faculty to explore what engineering instruction could look like in college courses that prepare future elementary teachers.
Initially the faculty participated in a professional development workshop that introduced them to concepts of engineering and technology that are appropriate for elementary students and engaged them in engineering activities that might be used in elementary classrooms. Faculty, like both pre-service college students and elementary school students, were a bit surprised by the broad definition of technology adopted by the ATLAS program: technology is any object or process designed to help solve a problem. Thus, in addition to computers and iPods, items such as shoes, forks, and bicycles are all encompassed by our definition. ATLAS also strives to construct a perception of engineers as people who use their knowledge of math, science, and their creativity to design such technological solutions to problems.
After exploring engineering and technology concepts and activities, ATLAS faculty were challenged to brainstorm ways that they might integrate the teaching of engineering and technology into the science and education courses for pre-service teachers that they teach. Models have included integrating an electrical engineering challenge in a physical science course, demonstrating the engineering design process in a science education methods course, and introducing engineering and technology through literature in a literacy education course. To evaluate the impact, college students enrolled in a subset of modified courses were given a three-part pre and post-assessment (click here to view the full evaluation instrument). First, they were surveyed on their comfort teaching engineering and technology concepts (including their comfort explaining what engineers do), using the engineering design process, and facilitating engineering projects with students. In the next section they were asked to identify engineered products from a list that included items such as shoes, cup, cell phone, bird, and lightening. The final section of the assessment required students to identify examples of work done by engineers. Answer choices included tasks such as improving bandages, designing ways to clean water, driving machines, and repairing cars.
On the overall scores, students enrolled in ATLAS courses showed significant and considerable gains (roughly 37 percent over the pre-test scores). The measured improvement provides clear indication that the project was effective in increasing both the engineering comfort and knowledge of their students. Students were asked to comment on how their experience may have changed how they think about engineering and technology. Many comments focused on increased understanding of the prevalence of technology in our lives. One student said, “I pay attention to more things and think about how it took an idea and a design to make it.” Other students sighted a more solid understanding of the array of technologies around us, stating “[learning about engineering and technology] has helped me to understand exactly how broad of a category technology is” and “I appreciate the small technologies much more (spoons, sponges) and have a better understanding of what engineers do.” Students also expressed that their experiences helped them understand how they might introduce these concepts to elementary school students in compelling ways. Students stated: “It [the course] really engaged me—I feel more confident about teaching science and more importantly, using inquiry” and “It made me much more comfortable with science. It hasn't been my favorite subject but now I think I could do a really good job getting students excited about it.”
Because one goal of the ATLAS program was to test a wide variety of implementation models, the methods for introducing engineering and technology concepts, as well as the time spent engaging with these concepts, also varied. As one might expect, survey results show that, in general, increased time spent on the concepts correlated to increased knowledge and comfort. In addition, results indicate that infusing engineering and technology content in science courses allows for the most significant integration, due to the interconnectedness of science, engineering, and technology. Results show that across all course integration models, the introduction of engineering and technology concepts was successful in kindling great enthusiasm for the teaching of engineering for children. |
