"I Just Kept Trying": An Ethnographic Look at Engineering Students' Decision Making During High School Design Challenges

• In Event: 63.086 - Sheraton Roundtable 11 - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 63.086-1 - Division C Section 1e Roundtable 3

Abstract

Recent policy changes in science education have resulted in an increase in the implementation of engineering design challenges in schools, which require students to navigate and negotiate the complexities associated with working in collaborative teams to solve problems. A part of this process is reflective decision-making (RDM), which is co-dependent on discursive practices of students, which are a result of the discourse strategies that provided in the classroom environment. The purpose of this case study is to provide an ethnographic lens into a diverse high school engineering classroom where these discursive practices are overlooked. More specifically, if students are not given the proper strategies, what resources do students rely on when they are asked to make decisions concerning their design?

Authors

• Jessica Cellitti, Drexel University

• Christopher George Wright, Drexel University