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1. Unveiling the Fundamental Forces: Exploring Newton’s Laws of Motion through the engineering of a Balloon Car in Action.

   Vazquez_Dominguez, Max (March 2024, National Science Teacher Association)

   na (Ed.)

   In this workshop, we show activities developed and implemented as part of a National Science Foundation project (Award #2121351) based on how to use a modified engineering model to teach about Newton’s laws in middle grades. We cover 8th grade physical science related to forces (Georgia standard, S8P3; NGSS standard MS-PS2-2) and the cross cutting concept of cause and effect. Using translanguaging practices and technology, participants will learn about a modified 7-step engineering method and will participate in designing a prototype to test Newton’s laws. This activity is highly engaging for students and a very effective approach to teach the engineering design process. 

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2. Teaching about the properties of sound using engineering to build a guitar

   Horton, Drew; DeSanctis, Laurem; Vazquez_Dominguez, Max (March 2024, National Science Teacher Association)

   na (Ed.)

   In this workshop, we show activities developed and implemented as part of a National Science Foundation project (Award #2121351) based on how to use a modified engineering model to teach about the properties of sound in elementary grades. We cover 4th grade physical science related to forces (Georgia standard, S4P2; NGSS standard 4-PS4-1) and the cross cutting concept of cause and effect. Using translanguaging practices and technology, participants will learn about a modified 7-step engineering method and will participate in building a small guitar. This activity is highly engaging for students and a very effective approach to teach the engineering design process. 

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3. Teaching about the properties of sound using engineering to build a guitar

   Horton, Drew; DeSanctis, Laurem; Vazquez_Dominguez, Max (March 2024, National Science Teacher Association)

   na (Ed.)

   In this workshop, we show activities developed and implemented as part of a National Science Foundation project (Award #2121351) based on how to use a modified engineering model to teach about the properties of sound in elementary grades. We cover 4th grade physical science related to forces (Georgia standard, S4P2; NGSS standard 4-PS4-1) and the cross cutting concept of cause and effect. Using translanguaging practices and technology, participants will learn about a modified 7-step engineering method and will participate in building a small guitar. This activity is highly engaging for students and a very effective approach to teach the engineering design process. 

   more » « less
4. Territorializing routines of action in the science classroom: Preservice Teachers Using Engineering and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies in Elementary Grades

   Vazquez_Dominguez, Max; Cardozo_Gaibisso, Lourdes; Buxton, Cory; Harman, Ruth (April 2024, American Educational Research Association)

   na (Ed.)

   As part of Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS), in-service and pre-service teachers must become familiar with and learn to plan and implement engineering activities using one of the available engineering design models. In addition, pre-service teachers must teach this content to a growing multilingual students in elementary grades in the US. In this presentation, we describe how pre-service teachers use a modified 7-step engineering model to teach about sound to a group of rising 4th grade emergent bilingual students in a summer program in English and Spanish. Using the process of territorialization from assemblage theory, we explore how three pre-service teachers implemented engineering activities using culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies. We conclude with a series of recommendations to facilitate the process of territorialization for pre-service teachers in science/engineering education. 

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5. GETTING BEYOND THE HAIRY HOUSE: USING STRUCTURE-FUNCTIONMECHANISM TO ADVANCE BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED DESIGN PEDAGOGY

   Helms, M (August 2021, International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference)

   In this case study we report on the use of a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned form of Structure-Behavior- Function, called Structure-Function-Mechanism (SFM), to teach four high school engineering teachers an approach for Biologically Inspired Design (BID). Functional theories of design describe a natural way in which designers solve design problems. They provide support for case-based and analogicalbased reasoning systems and have been used successfully to teach BID to undergraduate students. We found that teachers instructed on BID practice and pedagogy using our modified theory were able to grasp the structural concepts and looked for clear markers separating mechanism (behavior) and function. Because of the systems-of-systems nature of most biological entities, these boundaries were often subjective, presenting unique challenge to teachers. As high school engineering teachers look for methods to enhance their pedagogy and to understand multidisciplinary content, these findings will inform future curriculum development and professional learning approaches for engineering education. 

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