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1. Partnering to Develop a Coordinated Engineering Education Program Across Schools, Museum Field Trips, and Afterschool Programs

   Harlow, D. (January 2020, Connected science learning)

   Engineering Explorations are curriculum modules that engage children across contexts in learning about science and engineering. We used them to leverage multiple education sectors (K–12 schools, museums, higher education, and afterschool programs) across a community to provide engineering learning experiences for youth, while increasing local teachers’ capacity to deliver high-quality engineering learning opportunities that align with school standards. Focusing on multiple partners that serve youth in the same community provides opportunities for long-term collaborations and programs developed in response to local needs. In a significant shift from earlier sets of standards, the Next Generation Science Standards include engineering design, with the goal of providing students with a foundation “to better engage in and aspire to solve the major societal and environmental challenges they will face in decades ahead” (NGSS Lead States 2013, Appendix I). Including engineering in K–12 standards is a positive step forward in introducing students to engineering; however, K–12 teachers are not prepared to facilitate high-quality engineering activities. Research has consistently shown that elementary teachers are not confident in teaching science, especially physical science, and generally have little knowledge of engineering (Trygstad 2013). K–12 teachers, therefore, will need support. Our goal was to create a program that took advantage of the varied resources across a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education ecosystem to support engineering instruction for youth across multiple contexts, while building the capacity of educators and meeting the needs of each organization. Specifically, we developed mutually reinforcing classroom and field trip activities to improve student learning and a curriculum to improve teacher learning. This challenging task required expertise in school-based standards, engineering education, informal education, teacher professional development, and classroom and museum contexts. 

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2. Toolkit to support preservice teacher dialogue for planning NGSS three-dimensional lessons

   Sinapuelas, M.L.S. (April 2018, Innovations)

   The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) on which they are based, require a shift in preservice science teacher preparation. NGSS aligned instruction calls to engage learners in the use of authentic science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs) to develop understanding of disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) within the context of a scientific phenomenon (Bybee, 2014; NRC, 2015). To ensure beginning teachers are prepared for this shift, university programs are changing teacher preparation to meet this new vision. This happens primarily in science methods courses where specific supports must be in place to prepare preservice teachers and facilitate course reforms (Bybee, 2014; Krajcik, McNeill, & Reiser, 2008). This paper describes the Next Generation Alliance for Science Educators Toolkit (Next Gen ASET) that was designed to support shifting instructional needs within science methods courses to align with the vision of the NGSS. While not meant to replace existing methods course curriculum, this toolkit promotes dialogue explicit to the vision of the NGSS. Two teaching scenarios demonstrate how the Next Gen ASET Toolkit has been implemented in science methods courses, illustrating its flexibility of and how they accommodate the inclusion of various lesson planning and instructional styles. 

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3. The Synergy of Intertwining Grant Activities: Cyber Up! and GenCyber Girls

   West, Tobi (August 2022, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   The ongoing workforce shortage of skilled and diverse cybersecurity professionals coupled with the continued upward trend of cybercrime has led to an increased number of funding opportunities from the federal government to support projects focused on technical skills development. Significant emphasis is placed on academic transfer pathways and education-to-career pathways for students from K-12 to community college and beyond. Utilizing funding from multiple sources, faculty have intertwined grant project activities to increase awareness of cybersecurity careers and academic pathways, emphasizing digital forensics and incident response. The two grant projects, Cyber Up! and GenCyber Girls, aimed to develop college-level curriculum and cybersecurity workshops for female high school students. Project activities were synthesized to create a summer camp for high school students based on the curriculum developed for the college programs in digital forensics and incident response. The synergy between the projects has shown an increase in female participation in the digital forensics course and helped build interest in cybersecurity careers among K-12 students. 

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4. Designing Educative Curriculum Materials for Teacher Educators: Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Content Knowledge for Teaching About Matter and Its Interactions

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-024-10453-7  

   Hanuscin, Deborah; Borda, Emily; Melton, Josie; Mikeska, Jamie N (February 2024, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education)

   Wu, Hsin-Kai (Ed.)

   Research on teacher educators’ professional learning has gained increasing interest within science education. Curriculum materials have been suggested as a means of supporting teacher learning for several decades but have not yet been examined as a potential tool for supporting the learning of teacher educators. In this paper, we conceptualize a set of design heuristics to guide the development of educative curriculum materials for teacher educators. We illustrate how these heuristics guided the identification of specific educative features, which we included when developing prototype educative curriculum materials for elementary science teacher educators in content and/or method courses to support the development of preservice teachers’ content knowledge for teaching about matter and its interactions. 

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5. From Carnival Games to Plastic Filters: Preparing Elementary Preservice Teachers to Teach Engineering.

   Kidd, J; Pazos, P; Gutierrez, L; Ringleb, S; Rhemer, D; Kaipa, K; Kumi, I; Ayala, O; Cima, F (March 2024, Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE))

   Preservice teachers (PSTs) in an educational foundations course were tasked with leading elementary students in an engineering design challenge. To explore different approaches for helping the PSTs develop competence in engineering education, two implementation methods were tested. In Spring 2022, PSTs collaborated with undergraduate engineering students to develop carnival-themed design challenge lessons. In Fall 2022, PSTs worked with their PST classmates to teach a professionally prepared engineering lesson focused on designing plastic filters. PSTs’ knowledge of engineering and engineering pedagogy were compared across the two semesters using an exploratory approach. Both groups showed increases in engineering knowledge and engineering pedagogical knowledge. Item-level differences suggest unique benefits to each approach providing insight for teacher educators designing interventions to prepare PSTs to integrate engineering into elementary education. 

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