Elementary Students Learn How To Engineer Online (RTP)

Abstract

The educational disruptions caused by COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 were vast. Schools utilized a variety of instructional methods from paper packets to varying amounts of online synchronous and asynchronous instruction. One Nashville independent elementary school provided lesson plans each day for students to complete, with the assistance of their parents, largely asynchronously. To combat the difficulties encountered by families with two working parents and children frustrated by this type of learning, a zoom-conference based class consisting of three second grade children was created. Each day Monday through Thursday the children were presented a hands-on engineering design challenge that utilized materials found in their homes. The children had not been previously exposed to the engineering design process (EDP). The theoretical framework for this study lies in the areas of engineering identity as well as teamwork and feedback through engineering discourse. The research questions for this study were the following: 1) What are the impacts of teaching the engineering design process online via zoom conference on development of children's ability to use engineering discourse? Are students able to master the steps of the engineering design process? How do students learn to receive and implement feedback from their peers and the teacher over zoom? How is teamwork affected as compared to in-person experiences? 2) If any how do children develop their engineering identity through a series of zoom conference-based engineering design challenges? To answer these questions, data were derived from recordings of the online sessions and observations of student behavior and statements, the PowerPoint slides that were used to facilitate the course, photos and videos created by parents of the students' designs, and interviews with the children. Qualitative data analysis followed an inductive approach. The utilization of multiple data sources allowed for a complete picture of what is taking place during the sessions and how it impacted the children's understanding and practice of the engineering design process. The children became very facile with the EDP and its steps. They looked forward to the design challenge each day, often using it as motivation to get through their required schoolwork before starting the challenge. At times they struggled to give and especially to receive feedback from their peers, particularly when it involved criticism. All three children reported believing that they are an engineer, an indicator of a forming engineering identity.