Data‐based conjectures for supporting responsive teaching in engineering design with elementary teachers

The national efforts underway to include engineering in K–12 science education present a variety of new challenges, including how to prepare teachers to teach a new discipline. In this paper, we focus on elementary teachers and how they enter into responsive teaching, in which they closely attend an...

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Published inScience education (Salem, Mass.) Vol. 102; no. 3; pp. 548 - 570
Main Authors Watkins, Jessica, McCormick, Mary, Wendell, Kristen Bethke, Spencer, Kathleen, Milto, Elissa, Portsmore, Merredith, Hammer, David
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Wiley-Blackwell 01.05.2018
Wiley Periodicals Inc
Subjects
Classroom Techniques
Design
Design engineering
Elementary School Science
Elementary School Teachers
Elementary Secondary Education
Engineering
Engineering Education
Instructional Design
Interviews
Observation
Professional Development
Qualitative Research
Research Methodology
responsive teaching
Science Education
Science Instruction
Teacher Education Programs
Teacher Improvement
Teacher Student Relationship
Teaching
Teaching Methods
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Summary:The national efforts underway to include engineering in K–12 science education present a variety of new challenges, including how to prepare teachers to teach a new discipline. In this paper, we focus on elementary teachers and how they enter into responsive teaching, in which they closely attend and meaningfully respond to students’ thinking. This pedagogical approach is particularly critical for teaching engineering design in ways that support students in developing original solutions to complex, dynamic problems. Drawing on 3 years of professional development that helped teachers incorporate engineering in literacy contexts, we investigated the knowledge and abilities teachers displayed for responsive teaching and how features of instructional design and classroom dynamics impacted their teaching. Throughout the project, we observed and videotaped professional development workshops and teachers’ classrooms, and interviewed teachers about their classroom experiences. We then conducted a thematic analysis across these data sources, presenting common themes as conjectures for how teachers enter into responsive teaching in engineering. We discuss how these conjectures can inform teacher research and the design of teacher preparation programs in engineering.
ISSN:0036-8326
1098-237X
DOI:10.1002/sce.21334