Recent reforms in science education have supported the inclusion of engineering in K-
12 curricula. To this end, many science classrooms have incorporated engineering units
that include design tasks. Design is an integral part of engineering and helps students
think in creative and interdisciplinary ways. In this study, we examined middle-school
students’ naturally occurring design conversations in small design teams and their
learning of science as a result of engaging in an engineering and science unit. We
found that the proportion of different thought processes used by boys and girls was
quite similar. Both girls and boys produced a higher percentage of ideas or thoughts
associated with divergent thinking, but a lower proportion in convergent thinking,
evaluative thinking, and cognitive memory. In addition, gender composition of design
teams influenced thought processes expressed by girls and boys. Interestingly, in mixed
teams, both girls and boys expressed less divergent thinking than those in single-sex
teams. With regard to science content learning, both girls and boys showed statistically
significant learning gains. There were no significant gender differences in the pre- and
post-test scores. These results suggest that participating in an engineering design task in
small design teams provided students opportunities to engage in productive thinking
and enhance their learning of the targeted science concept—ecosystems.
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Examining Middle School Students’ Engineering Design Processes in a Design Workshop
Design thinking has an important role in STEM education. However, there has been
limited research on how students engage in various modalities throughout the design
process in hands-on design tasks. To promote middle school students’ engineering
literacy, it is necessary to examine the use of design modalities during design. Using
a case study approach, we examine middle school students’ design stages and
modalities during design activities. We also identify the patterns of design processes
in the teams with different design outcomes. Drawing on theories in design thinking
and embodied interaction, we proposed a framework and devised a video analysis
protocol to examine students’ design stages and modalities. Middle school students
attending a design workshop engaged in two design activities in teams of 3–4 people.
The design sessions were video recorded and analyzed using the video analysis
protocol. The teams engaged in the stages of planning, building, and testing, while
employing the verbal, the visual, and the physical modalities. The teams that varied in
design outcomes exhibited different patterns in the use of multiple modalities during
the design stages. This study contributes to research on design thinking by proposing
a framework for analyzing middle school students’ multimodal design processes and
presenting data visualization methods to identify patterns in design stages and modalities.
The findings suggest the necessity to examine students’ use of design modalities
in the context of design stages and imply the potential benefits of using multiple
modalities during design. The implications for future research and education practices
are also discussed.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1839971
- PAR ID:
- 10128234
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Research in Science Education
- ISSN:
- 0157-244X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-019-09893-x
