Funds of Knowledge for Problem Framing and Concept Generation in Elementary Students’ Open-Ended Engineering Design (Poster 34)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 4:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Enhancing Engineering Education: Engaging Students Through Personal Experience, Active Learning, and Innovative Instructional Tools

Abstract

The research community has demonstrated the importance of problem-scoping and conceptual design in engineering learning, it enhances students' engineering design ability. And we have learned that students' experiences and interests improve students' engagement in engineering. Yet, the specific ways students’ experiences and interests support their problem-scoping and conceptual design in engineering design remain underexplored. In this paper, we analyzed students' project design and conversations in an upper elementary STEM program, to figure out how their personal experiences and interests influence their decision and design in their engineering project. We found students' funds of knowledge contribute to their problem-scoping and conceptual design in open-ended engineering design projects.

Author

• Geling Xu, Tufts University