A Pathway Toward STEM Integration: Embodiment, Mathematization, and Mechanistic Reasoning

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: Developing Computer Science and Engineering Knowledge and Cognitive Skills in K–12 Contexts

Abstract

A challenge facing STEM education is integration, advancing student conceptual development and disciplinary practices within and across STEM domains. This study supported third-grade students to reason about content and disciplinary practices in science, engineering, and mathematics. This work was supported through a focus on mechanistic reasoning. To foster mechanistic reasoning, students were engaged in the design of kinetic toys composed of systems of levers within an after-school engineering program. To make the operations of these systems salient, students participated in embodied activities highlighting properties of these mechanisms. Students re-described and inscribed these embodied experiences as mathematical systems. Pre- and post-assessments showed students made gains on measures of mechanistic reasoning, mathematical reasoning, and engineering practices.

Authors

• Paul J. Weinberg, Oakland University

• Erika K. Sorensen, Avondale School District