Designing and Authoring Pop-Up Books to Facilitate Third Graders' Understanding of Science and Engineering Concepts

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Discipline-Based Research in Engineering Education

Abstract

We examined changes in third-graders’ (N = 58) knowledge of science and engineering concepts after participating in a 10-lesson paper-engineering unit in which they solved pop-up design challenges and built pop-up books. We stratified students by pretest vocabulary scores, then randomly assigned to treatment (n = 28) or comparison (n = 30). In treatment, students wrote in journals to document their learning; in comparison, students discussed their learning in small groups. Regardless of condition, students’ posttest vocabulary scores were significantly higher, with improvement of more than one standard deviation (d = 1.25). Students moved from discussion of aesthetic components of pop-up books to discussion of pop-up structure and function in cognitive interviews. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Authors

• Amy Gillespie Rouse, Southern Methodist University

• Robert Rouse, Southern Methodist University