Formulating a Concept Base for Secondary Level Engineering: A Review and Synthesis

Introduction In recent years, there has been growing interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education across the K-12 spectrum (e.g., Borgman, Abelson, Dirks, Johnson, Koedinger, Linn, Lynch, Oblinger, Pea, Salen, Smith, & Szalay, 2008; National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, 2000; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008; National Research Council, 2006). In part, this interest has been triggered by a “growing concern that the United States is not preparing a sufficient number of students, teachers, and practitioners in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics” (Kuenzi, 2008). While much of the focus on STEM has concentrated on science and mathematics, engineering and technology are emerging as disciplines in their own right at the K-12 level (Coppola & Malyn-Smith, 2006). A significant part of this emphasis on engineering and technology can be attributed to a concern that insufficient numbers of students are being attracted into and prepared for post-secondary engineering education (Brophy, Klein, Portsmore, & Rogers, 2008). There is also a growing awareness that an engineering presence within the K-12 curriculum provides an authentic contextual base for mathematics and science concepts (Daugherty, Reese, & Merrill, in press; Lewis, 2005; Wicklein, 2006). One large scale initiative focused on pre-college engineering is the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) funded through the National Science Foundations’ (NSF) Centers for Learning and Teaching program (Hailey, Erekson, Becker, & Thomas, 2005). One key problem that emerged from a multiple case study project of engineering teacher professional development funded by NCETE was the lack of a well-defined conceptual base for K-12 engineering (Daugherty, 2009). The development of meaningful learning, teaching, and assessment is problematic in the absence of a clear understanding of the conceptual base of the subject matter—in this case K-12 engineering (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Given the current ambiguity

[1]  J. Bransford,et al.  How students learn : history, mathematics, and science in the classroom , 2005 .

[2]  Walter Guido Vincenti,et al.  What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History by Walter G. Vincenti , 1992, Technology and Culture.

[3]  N. Denzin,et al.  Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research. , 2005 .

[4]  P. John Williams,et al.  Design: The Only Methodology of Technology? , 2000 .

[5]  Mathieu Bouville,et al.  On Using Ethical Theories to Teach Engineering Ethics , 2008, Sci. Eng. Ethics.

[6]  W. Dugger.  Standards for Technological Literacy. Content for the Study of Technology. , 2000 .

[7]  Jan H. F. Meyer,et al.  Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge , 2006 .

[8]  Malcolm Welch,et al.  Analyzing the Tacit Strategies of Novice Designers , 1999 .

[9]  Theodore Lewis,et al.  Coming to Terms with Engineering Design as Content , 2005 .

[10]  R. McCormick.  Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge , 1997 .

[11]  최영한,et al.  미국 NCTM의 Principles and Standards for School Mathematics에 나타난 수학과 교수,학습의 이론 , 2002 .

[12]  Samuel C. Florman,et al.  The Introspective Engineer , 1996 .

[13]  Robert C. Wicklein.  Five Good Reasons for Engineering as the Focus for Technology Education , 2006 .

[14]  B. V. Koen,et al.  Discussion of the Method : Conducting the Engineer's Approach to Problem Solving , 2003 .

[15]  Robert D. Tennyson,et al.  An Empirically Based Instructional Design Theory for Teaching Concepts , 1986 .

[16]  Thomas A. Schwandt.  Dictionary of qualitative inquiry , 2001 .

[17]  H. Lynn Erickson,et al.  Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Teaching Beyond the Facts , 1998 .

[18]  B. Rittle-Johnson,et al.  Developing Conceptual Understanding and Procedural Skill in Mathematics: An Iterative Process. , 2001 .

[19]  Thomas R. Guskey,et al.  What Makes Professional Development Effective? , 2003 .

[20]  M. Patton.  Qualitative evaluation and research methods, 2nd ed. , 1990 .

[21]  Robert C. Wicklein.  Five Good Reasons for Engineering Design as the Focus for Technology Education: In My 25+ Years as an Educator in This Field, I Have Rarely Discussed My Profession with Individuals Who Have an Accurate Understanding of Our Educational Purpose , 2006 .

[22]  Balakrishnan Chandrasekaran,et al.  What are ontologies, and why do we need them? , 1999, IEEE Intell. Syst..

[23]  Brent Mawson,et al.  Beyond `The Design Process': An Alternative Pedagogy for Technology Education , 2003 .

[24]  T. Lewis,et al.  Problem Posing--Adding a Creative Increment to Technological Problem Solving. , 1998 .

[25]  L. Winner.  Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought , 1977 .

[26]  Bruce E. Seely,et al.  Research, Engineering, and Science in American Engineering Colleges: 1900–1960 , 1993, Technology and Culture.

[27]  J. Shea.  National Science Education Standards , 1995 .

[28]  R. Westrum.  The Social Construction of Technological Systems , 1989 .

[29]  K. Malterud.  Qualitative research: standards, challenges, and guidelines , 2001, The Lancet.

[30]  J. Hiebert,et al.  Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge in Mathematics: An Introductory Analysis , 1986 .

[31]  E. Layton.  Technology as Knowledge , 2023 .

[32]  David H. Jonassen,et al.  Toward a design theory of problem solving , 2000 .

[33]  C. Mitcham,et al.  Thinking through Technology: The Path between Engineering and Philosophy by Carl Mitcham (review) , 1995, Technology and Culture.

[34]  J. Herkert.  Engineering ethics education in the USA: Content, pedagogy and curriculum , 2000 .

[35]  José Antonio Méndez Sanz,et al.  Thinking through technology: The path between engineering and philosophy , 1995 .

[36]  C. Bao Iturbe,et al.  Educating the engineer of 2020: Adapting engineering education to the new century , 2009, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[37]  Jenny L. Daugherty.  Engineering Professional Development Design for Secondary School Teachers: A Multiple Case Study , 2009 .

[38]  Bradley M. Dearing,et al.  Delivering Engineering Content in Technology Education: Can the Technology Education Profession Deliver on the Promise of Technological Literacy for All While Preparing the Secondary School Student for Engineering Education? , 2004 .

[39]  N. Augustine.  Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future , 2006 .

[40]  George E. Rogers,et al.  Secondary Engineering Competencies: A Delphi Study of Engineering Faculty , 2008 .

[41]  Allen Newell,et al.  The Knowledge Level , 1989, Artif. Intell..

[42]  Ann L. Brown,et al.  How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. , 1999 .

[43]  Cameron Smith,et al.  Identifying the Essential Aspects and Related Academic Concepts of an Engineering Design Curriculum in Secondary Technology Education , 2007 .

[44]  Jeffrey J. Kuenzi.  Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education: Background, Federal Policy, and Legislative Action , 2008 .

[45]  Rodney L. Custer,et al.  Examining the dimensions of technology , 1995 .

[46]  Jonathan A. Supovitz,et al.  The Effects of Professional Development on Science Teaching Practices and Classroom Culture , 2000 .

[47]  Rodney L. Custer,et al.  Engineering and Technology Education , 2008 .

[48]  Laura M. Desimone,et al.  Effects of Professional Development on Teachers’ Instruction: Results from a Three-year Longitudinal Study , 2002 .

[49]  M. Patton,et al.  Qualitative evaluation and research methods , 1992 .

[50]  J. Daugherty,et al.  Engineering-oriented professional development for secondary level teachers: A multiple case study analysis , 2008 .

[51]  Walter G. Vincenti,et al.  What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History. , 1992 .

[52]  Allen Newell,et al.  Human Problem Solving. , 1973 .

[53]  Thomas L. Erekson,et al.  Conceptual Foundations: Engineering and Technology Education , 2008 .

[54]  J. Hiebert.  Conceptual and procedural knowledge : the case of mathematics , 1987 .

[55]  C. Hailey,et al.  National Center for Engineering and Technology Education: The Overall Impact of the NCETE Is to Strengthen the Nation's Capacity to Deliver Effective Engineering and Technology Education in the K-12 Schools. , 2005 .

[56]  Bethany Rittle-Johnson,et al.  Iterating between lessons on concepts and procedures can improve mathematics knowledge. , 2009, The British journal of educational psychology.

[57]  Glenda Anthony,et al.  Active learning in a constructivist framework , 1996 .

[58]  B. Rittle-Johnson,et al.  Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge of Mathematics : Does One Lead to the Other ? , 2004 .

[59]  Sean Brophy,et al.  Advancing Engineering Education in P‐12 Classrooms , 2008 .

[60]  J. Lagowski.  National Science Education Standards , 1995 .

[61]  Nicola Guarino,et al.  Editorial: The role of formal ontology in the information technology , 1995, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[62]  Jan L. Top,et al.  Engineering ontologies , 1997, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[63]  Angela Anning,et al.  Primary Teachers' and Students' Understanding of School Situated Design in Canada and England , 2001 .

[64]  Diana G. Oblinger,et al.  Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge. A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation , 2008 .

[65]  Paul T. Durbin.  Critical perspectives on nonacademic science and engineering , 1991 .

[66]  R. Land.  Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (1): linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines , 2003 .

[67]  Jenny L. Daugherty,et al.  Trajectories of Mathematics and Technology Education Pointing to Engineering Design. , 2010 .

[68]  Vincent W. Childress,et al.  Engineering Student Outcomes for Grades 9 -12 , 2008 .

[69]  Hilda Borko,et al.  Conceptual Knowledge Falls through the Cracks: Complexities of Learning to Teach Mathematics for Understanding. , 1993 .

[70]  Roland Schinzinger,et al.  Ethics in Engineering , 1983 .