Familiar Faces and Places: Family and Community Impact on Ideation in the Engineering Design Process

• In Event: STEM as a Connection Between Families, Schools, and Communities

Abstract

This paper presents findings centered around engineering-focused programming for children that incorporated caretakers and community-based volunteer engineers. The impact of their inclusion on children’s problem identification and solution generation processes was analyzed. Video data were recorded over five months and initial results indicated that while seeds of ideation begin with the child, greater amounts of adult thinking and problem evaluation was undertaken through the child, in the form of strategic questioning and statements. Further, specific positioning and child agency, facilitated and influenced by adults, contributed to some children placing themselves as idea discussion leaders and key members of their family and home environments. Implications for best-practice regarding family and community inclusion and partnership for educational programming are discussed.

Authors

• Peter Knox, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Jing Yang, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Amber Simpson, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Adam V. Maltese, Indiana University