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1. What Distinguishes Students’ Engineering Design Performance: Design Behaviors, Design Iterations, and Application of Science Concepts

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-024-10184-y  

   Du, Hanxiang; Zhu, Gaoxia; Xing, Wanli; Xie, Charles (April 2025, Journal of Science Education and Technology)

   Engineering design that requires mathematical analysis, scientific understanding, and technology is critical for preparing students for solving engineering problems. In simulated design environments, students are expected to learn about science and engineering through their design. However, there is a lack of understanding concerning linking science concepts with design problems to design artifacts. This study investigated how 99 high school students applied science concepts to solarize their school using a computer-aided engineering design software, aiming to explore the interaction between students’ science concepts and engineering design behaviors. Students were assigned to three groups based on their design performance: the achieving group, proficient group, and emerging group. By mining log activities, we explored the interactions among students’ application of science concepts, engineering design behaviors, design iterations, and their design performance. We found that the achieving group has a statistically higher number of design iterations than the other two performance groups. We also identified distinctive transition patterns in students’ applying science concepts and exercising design behaviors among three groups. The implications of this study are then discussed. 

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2. Understanding Science Learning Through Writings on Engineering Design

   Huang, X.; Xing, W.; Zhao, H.; Chao, J.; Schimpf, C.; Chen, G.; & Xie, C. (January 2020, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020)

   Engineering design is often used to teach science, but not-yet leads to solid learning gains. We examined the relationship between science learning and engineering design using text mining. Association rule mining was applied to texts written during design to extract the relationships between solar-energy concepts and solar design performance. Findings suggest that students test concept-related factors’ effects on design outcomes to learn concepts and eliminate misconceptions. These findings have implications for future instructional design. 

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3. Teacher perceptions of incorporating engineering design in mathematics and science instruction

   Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, E. (January 2019, ASEE annual conference exposition)
4. Teacher perceptions of incorporating engineering design in mathematics and science instruction.

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--33338  

   Vomvoridi-Ivanovic, E. (January 2019, Proceedings of the 2020 annual conference and exposition of Association of Engineering Education, Tampa, FL.)
5. Do students recognize design features that promote interest in science and engineering?

   https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/15811  

   Calabrese, Julia E; Aina_Jr, Daniel Kalani; Cordner, Holly; Songer, Nancy Butler (January 2025, Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education)

   Unfortunately, most of the world is experiencing a shortage of employees for careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Few students express interest in pursuing these fields, indicating that this shortage has no clear end. Thus, researchers and educators are grappling with ways to increase student interest in STEM fields. One suggestion is to include four critical curricular design features: (1) providing choice or autonomy in learning, (2) promoting personal relevance, (3) presenting appropriately challenging material, and (4) situating the investigations in socially and culturally appropriate contexts. In this mixed-methods study, we explore whether students recognize the incorporation of these curricular design features within a given curriculum and in what ways. 

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