Tinkering to introduce technology, developing an instrument to measure student's play preferences

Abstract

This purpose of the research described in this paper is to determine if a student could be identified to prefer hands-on activity and problem solving skills-"tinkering", to other forms of play. Adult engineers, scientists and technologists may take objects apart and put them back together to learn about the object. From there, they may try to invent a new object from something that they have experienced. The people that are doing such actions are called "tinkerers". 1 A vast amount of research has been done on the effects of play on learning. The goal of this project is to investigate the correlation of "tinkering" to interest in STEM areas of education. A pilot project developed and tested an assessment tool that could be used to determine a students' preference. The project used a visual tool developed by the researchers. The tool was utilized in an international preschool on the XXXX University campus. This preschool is used frequently to pilot research and their familiarity with research protocols allows ease of access and cooperation with teachers. Results of the study were compared to teacher knowledge of the students. The scientific design, methodology, and results are discussed in this paper. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.