Abstract
This study investigated middle school students' conceptions of engineering. Participants were sixth through eighth grade members of afterschool engineering clubs. Thus, the study contributes to understanding middle school students' knowledge of engineering, and also to how afterschool activities shape students' conceptions of engineering. Researchers have increasingly attended to students' perceptions of themselves as engineers, and their attitudes towards engineering majors and careers. However, little research has investigated middle school students' conceptions of engineering-what engineering is and what engineers do. The purpose of this study was to understand how middle school students who join afterschool engineering clubs conceptualize engineering and how engineering afterschool club experiences influence students' conceptions of engineering. The results of our study indicate that many participants had limited conceptions of engineering and suggest a need to connect design activities with knowledge of engineering.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE |
| Pages | 1945-1950 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2013 |
| Event | 43rd IEEE Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2013 - Oklahoma City, OK, United States Duration: Oct 23 2013 → Oct 26 2013 |
Other
| Other | 43rd IEEE Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2013 |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| City | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Period | 10/23/13 → 10/26/13 |
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Keywords
- Conceptions of engineering
- K-12 engineering education
- Middle grades
- Middle school
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science Applications
- Software
- Education
Cite this
Middle school students' conceptions of engineering. / Jordan, Michelle; Snyder, Jan.
Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE. 2013. p. 1945-1950 6685174.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Middle school students' conceptions of engineering
AU - Jordan, Michelle
AU - Snyder, Jan
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This study investigated middle school students' conceptions of engineering. Participants were sixth through eighth grade members of afterschool engineering clubs. Thus, the study contributes to understanding middle school students' knowledge of engineering, and also to how afterschool activities shape students' conceptions of engineering. Researchers have increasingly attended to students' perceptions of themselves as engineers, and their attitudes towards engineering majors and careers. However, little research has investigated middle school students' conceptions of engineering-what engineering is and what engineers do. The purpose of this study was to understand how middle school students who join afterschool engineering clubs conceptualize engineering and how engineering afterschool club experiences influence students' conceptions of engineering. The results of our study indicate that many participants had limited conceptions of engineering and suggest a need to connect design activities with knowledge of engineering.
AB - This study investigated middle school students' conceptions of engineering. Participants were sixth through eighth grade members of afterschool engineering clubs. Thus, the study contributes to understanding middle school students' knowledge of engineering, and also to how afterschool activities shape students' conceptions of engineering. Researchers have increasingly attended to students' perceptions of themselves as engineers, and their attitudes towards engineering majors and careers. However, little research has investigated middle school students' conceptions of engineering-what engineering is and what engineers do. The purpose of this study was to understand how middle school students who join afterschool engineering clubs conceptualize engineering and how engineering afterschool club experiences influence students' conceptions of engineering. The results of our study indicate that many participants had limited conceptions of engineering and suggest a need to connect design activities with knowledge of engineering.
KW - Conceptions of engineering
KW - K-12 engineering education
KW - Middle grades
KW - Middle school
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893234965&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84893234965&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/FIE.2013.6685174
DO - 10.1109/FIE.2013.6685174
M3 - Conference contribution
SN - 9781467352611
SP - 1945
EP - 1950
BT - Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
ER -