Middle school students' conceptions of engineering

Michelle Jordan; Jan Snyder

doi:10.1109/FIE.2013.6685174

Middle school students' conceptions of engineering

Michelle Jordan, Jan Snyder

MLFTC: Teacher Preparation, Division of

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

3 Scopus citations

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	2013 Frontiers in Education Conference
Subtitle of host publication	Energizing the Future, FIE 2013 - Proceedings
Pages	1945-1950
Number of pages	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2013.6685174
State	Published - Dec 1 2013
Event	43rd IEEE Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2013 - Oklahoma City, OK, United States Duration: Oct 23 2013 → Oct 26 2013

Publication series

Name	Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
ISSN (Print)	1539-4565

Other

Other	43rd IEEE Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2013
Country/Territory	United States
City	Oklahoma City, OK
Period	10/23/13 → 10/26/13

Keywords

Conceptions of engineering
K-12 engineering education
Middle grades
Middle school

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Software
Education
Computer Science Applications

Access to Document

10.1109/FIE.2013.6685174

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Jordan, M & Snyder, J 2013, Middle school students' conceptions of engineering. in 2013 Frontiers in Education Conference: Energizing the Future, FIE 2013 - Proceedings., 6685174, Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE, pp. 1945-1950, 43rd IEEE Annual Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2013, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, 10/23/13. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2013.6685174

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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

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Middle school students' conceptions of engineering

Abstract

Publication series

Other

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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