Developing a knowledge of design and construction technology and engineering is often overlooked in favour of 'digital' technology such as tablets and computers. By taking children outdoors into nature, removing tablets and computers as well as artificial and synthetic materials and replacing them with only what nature provides, children become…

In 1997, the Industrial Technology Education Association of Taiwan (ITEA-Taiwan) hosted the 1997 International Conference on Technology Education in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICTE) in Taipei. The ICTE constitution was signed and the Association to Association mode was formed at that conference. This mode has provided the technology educators in the…

This position paper sets out to examine value creation in the engineering enterprise, a process that has mostly been associated with innovation and entrepreneurs. An analysis of the literature on engineering value creation in business studies, engineering and engineering education publications shows that there has been surprisingly little…

Nationally and internationally there have been calls for a focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teaching and learning in schools to prepare students for the many future careers in the STEM fields. One way to do this is through engineering activities that provide opportunities for integrating STEM to solve problems using…

As part of a 3-year longitudinal study, 136 sixth-grade students completed an engineering-based problem on earthquakes involving integrated STEM learning. Students employed engineering design processes and STEM disciplinary knowledge to plan, sketch, then construct a building designed to withstand earthquake damage, taking into account a number of…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the role of planned, sudden shifts in lived experiences, in influencing learner capabilities towards improved problem-solving for sustainable development outcomes. The authors responded to employers of engineering and built environment graduates observing limited "real-life" problem-solving skills,…

This paper presents findings from an on-going international study of Early Childhood (EC) teachers' and children's use of Internet of Toys (IoToys) to understand possibilities for developing children's cognitive capacities (e.g., creativity, inquiry, engineering design thinking). The study employed a Design Based Research (DBR) method, where…

A complementary volume to Dilly Fung's "A Connected Curriculum for Higher Education" (2017) [see ED613384], this book explores 'research-based education' as applied in practice within the higher education sector. A collection of 15 chapters followed by illustrative vignettes, it showcases approaches to engaging students actively with…

Making the students understand the theoretical concepts of digital logic design concepts is one of the major issues faced by the academics, therefore the teachers have tried different techniques to link the theoretical information to the practical knowledge. Use of software simulations is a technique for learning and practice that can be applied…

How do cross-bracing, geometry, and base isolation help buildings withstand earthquakes? These important structural design features involve fundamental geometry that elementary school students can readily model and understand. The problem activity, Designing an Earthquake-Resistant Building, was undertaken by several classes of sixth- grade…

This project is for a team of students (groups of two or three are ideal) to design and construct a model of a single-span bridge, using plastic drinking straws as the building material. All steps of the design, construction, testing and critiquing stages should be recorded by students in a journal. Students may like to include labelled diagrams,…

Background: Internationally, there is a growing concern for developing STEM education to prepare students for a scientifically and technologically advanced society. Despite educational bodies lobbying for an increased focus on STEM, there is limited research on how engineering might be incorporated especially in the elementary school curriculum. A…

Product design is the convergence point for engineering and design thinking and practices. Until recently, product design has been taught either as a component of mechanical engineering or as a subject within design schools but increasingly there is global recognition of the need for greater synergies between industrial design and engineering…

Incorporating engineering concepts into middle school curriculum is seen as an effective way to improve students' problem-solving skills. A selection of findings is reported from a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based unit in which students in the second year (grade 8) of a three-year longitudinal study explored…

Project-based learning (PBL) is a well-known student-centred methodology for engineering design education. The methodology claims to offer a number of educational benefits. This paper evaluates the student perceptions of the initial and second offering of a first-year design unit at Griffith University in Australia. It builds on an earlier…