Making It Their Own: Teachers’ Adaptations of Middle School Engineering Curricula

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Abstract

As engineering gains prominence in K-12 schools, there is a need for additional work documenting the nature of curriculum adaptations in engineering education contexts. In this study, middle school teachers (n=11) implemented a semester-long engineering curriculum designed to build student understanding of engineering practices, provide additional practice with foundational math and science content, and foster self-efficacy and positive attitudes towards STEM. In this paper, we triangulate survey, interview, and observation data collected over a two-year period to describe engineering teachers’ curriculum adaptations. Qualitative data reveal several categories of adaptations illustrative of the ways in which teachers adapted the curricula to better align with their own unique pedagogical approaches, classroom contexts, student populations, and logistical constraints.

Authors

• Sunni Newton, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Jessica Gale, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Meltem Alemdar, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Dyanne Baptiste Porter, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Jasmine Sookhyun Choi, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Abeera P. Rehmat, Georgia Institute of Technology