Mathematical Description and Mechanistic Reasoning in STEM Education: Learning Through Mathematizing Levered Systems

• In Event: Computational Thinking

Abstract

Recently, a growing number of efforts are being made to introduce STEM experiences to K–12 students. One major challenge facing STEM education is to advance students’ knowledge in both engineering fields and other academic domains. It is critical that the selection of content in STEM education is made based of its capacity to be described mathematically. This study focuses on children’s reasoning in the area of mechanics and how this reasoning is constituted through the development of mathematical description of mechanical systems. The study shows that mathematics is not merely a scaffold to support learning about content in science and engineering. Rather, it is a critical component of knowledge development within these fields.

Author

• Paul Jason Weinberg, Dr.