Teaching K-8 Teachers About Integrating Science and Engineering: An Engineering Learning Cycle Model and Acoustics Example

Abstract

We examined the use of an engineering learning cycle (ELC) model and in a course for K-8 inservice teachers for two purposes. First, we were interested in how the ELC would support teachers’ science, mathematics, and engineering content knowledge. We were also interested in their confidence in their ability to adapt content for teaching using the cycle. Thirty teachers participated in the course and completed an ELC that contextualized acoustics engineering in a school-based application: the design of classroom spaces. The science of sound, the science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States, 2013), and the mathematics practices (NGAC & CCSSO, 2010) in the investigation of acoustics were emphasized through the initial stages of the cycle. The application of the concepts and skills of those early stages were then supported in the later stages of the cycle wherein teachers designed (and re-designed) classroom models to meet design criteria. The ELC model, a description of an acoustics engineering professional development experience, and outcomes related to teachers’ content knowledge and confidence to adapt it within an ELC are discussed. mathematics, engineering, and technology knowledge and skills. In the state in which this course took place, engineering coursework is not a requirement for science teaching in any grade band. Therefore, there is not only a need to provide support for teachers in the pedagogy of engineering, but also for the nature of engineering itself (Kaya et al., 2017). The ELC provides an opportunity to meet both needs.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Allison Antink-Meyer

Allison Antink-Meyer ([email protected]) is associate professor of science and secondary education in the School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.

Anna Arias

Anna Arias is assistant professor of elementary science education at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia.