The Engaging Value of Engineering Activities: Actionable Insights from Research

Abstract

Think back to your earliest encounters with science. What do you remember? What made an impact that lasted into adulthood? Whatever comes to mind, it’s likely that the experience was fun and interesting, and was even better if it was collaborative and purposeful with meaningful relevance either to you personally or to wider society. Those are among the most valuable qualities of engineering activities, and our analysis of 263 research studies of engineering education conducted over the past two decades (Sneider and Ravel 2021) shows they are vital attributes both in school and settings outside the classroom. About two-thirds of the studies we examined took place in schools, mostly at the middle or high school level, and the other one-third was in out-of-school settings.

Keywords:

• Informal Education
• Engineering
• Instructional Materials
• Research
• STEM
• Teaching Strategies

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cary Sneider

Cary Sneider ([email protected]) Sneider is associated with the Educational Leadership and Policy Department at the College of Education

Mihir Ravel

Mihir Ravel are Visiting Scholars at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, and is associated with the Maseeh College of Engineering .