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  • Uncovering a disconnect between Virginia administrators’ understanding of the state of elementary engineering education and K-6 teacher professional development needs.
Title: Uncovering a disconnect between Virginia administrators’ understanding of the state of elementary engineering education and K-6 teacher professional development needs.
National and many state standards require elementary teachers to teach engineering in their classrooms. However, incorporating engineering into elementary engineering classrooms has not been a standard practice, thus emphasizing the need for teachers to be provided with training, resources, and support for the vision of instruction described in the standards to become a reality. Administrators are responsible for making decisions regarding teacher training and support. In response, we explored the perceptions of division and building-level administrators throughout Virginia regarding the current state of elementary engineering education and what they perceive as barriers to their teachers engaging students in lessons that incorporate engineering practices. Our data comes from 11 questions from a multiple-choice and open-ended response survey, which was analyzed using a mixed-method approach. Findings describe incoherence between what administrators perceive as the current state of engineering education, the barriers to teachers engaging their students in engineering, and what supports are being provided to teachers. These findings have implications for professional development design and implementation.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1908743
PAR ID:
10537862
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Annual International Conference
Date Published:
Format(s):
Medium: X
Location:
Denver, Colorado
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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