Supporting Engineering Design Ideas with Science and Mathematics: A Case Study of Middle School Life Science Students

Although engineering design is dependent upon the use of science and mathematics, the actual prototype, model, or solution that pre-college students generate can be accomplished without the students explicitly using scientific or mathematical concepts. It is therefore important to explore how studen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of education in mathematics, science and technology Vol. 6; no. 4; pp. 424 - 443
Main Authors Mathis, Corey A, Siverling, Emilie A, Moore, Tamara J, Douglas, Kerrie A, Guzey, S. Selcen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology 01.01.2018
Subjects
Biochemistry
Cytology
Design
Engineering Education
Females
Genetics
Grade 7
Mathematical Concepts
Middle School Students
Science Activities
Science Education
Scientific Concepts
STEM Education
Teamwork
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Summary:Although engineering design is dependent upon the use of science and mathematics, the actual prototype, model, or solution that pre-college students generate can be accomplished without the students explicitly using scientific or mathematical concepts. It is therefore important to explore how students apply science and mathematics concepts when engaged in a curriculum that was purposefully developed to foster student understanding of standards-based content. The purpose of this research is to apply the case study method to explore the following research question: "How do middle school students use scientific and mathematical concepts that were explored during the problem scoping lessons of an engineering design-based STEM integration unit to generate ideas and make design decisions?" Researchers collected data from one 7th-grade team during an integrated STEM unit and applied qualitative content analysis methods to examine the data. The findings show that students meaningfully used science and mathematics concepts taught within the unit to defend their engineering design ideas/decisions. It also revealed incomplete understanding of certain concepts. Engineering design can provide opportunities for teachers to assess how well students have learned scientific and mathematical concepts, provided that the curricula are carefully designed to prompt students' use of content to make design decisions.
ISSN:2147-611X
2147-611X
DOI:10.18404/ijemst.440343