This study explores the relationship between collaborative dynamics, expressed through observed leadership behaviour, and skills. It is based on the mechanical design activity of six dyads of students (post-secondary vocational training), composed of 11 boys and one girl, who are improving an existing mechanical system. Actions are studied using…

Background: To create design solutions experienced engineering designers engage in expert iterative practice. Researchers find that students struggle to learn this critical engineering design practice, particularly when tackling real-world engineering design problems. Purpose/Hypothesis: To improve our ability to teach iteration, this study…

Insights on students' own authentic design practices--nascent design practices without much adult guidance--are crucial to informing responsive facilitation of engineering design tasks. This study unpacks how elementary students interpret teacher given information about a design task, and interact with each other and given resources, to traverse a…

Human bodies vary widely: height, weight, blood volume, handedness, strength, and variations from disabilities, trauma, genetics, etc. Engineers must be trained to include human variance when designing human-interactive systems. Typically, this is not incorporated into mathematical and modeling focused courses. In the spring of 2019, one of three…

The natural curiosity of young children, makes the preschool period an important time for introducing and reinforcing engineering practices. Engineering here is defined as goal-oriented thinking that addresses problems and decisions within constraints by drawing on available resources. Engineering encompasses hands-on activity, inquiry, teamwork,…

Spatial reasoning skills are a great predictor of students' Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) achievement and attainment. However, researchers have mainly viewed spatial reasoning skills as an internal cognitive process that is measured through the administration of psychometric testing and laboratory experiments. Further,…

STEM education, which means integrated thinking, attracts the attention of early childhood educators and researchers. Engineering education, which naturally serves STEM integration, contributes to children's problem-solving skills with failure analysis and continual improvement habits of mind. Children need adult support in this process due to…

We discuss classroom activity comprised of small groups of students collaboratively tinkering with programs of dynamically manipulable figural models, posing problems regarding their mathematical properties and behaviors. We analyzed data from students' discourse taken from two classroom interventions employing a framework of creative mathematical…

Recent trends have shifted the focus of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education onto practice-based learning, to encourage opportunities for students to engage in science and engineering practices (SEPs) with the goal of more meaningful participation and engagement in authentic STEM experiences for all students. However,…

This action research study explored the challenge of evoking wonder among fourth graders within one Catholic School, using an integrative STEM educational approach. Cognitive constructivism, social constructivism, and situated learning theory guided this qualitative case study. Twenty-one students learned about the Fibonacci sequence and Golden…

In this study, a STEM activity was designed in which 9th-grade students can complete the task of making incubators by overcoming the difficulties they face in the engineering design process. This activity has been handled in the context of energy conversion and prepared based on the engineering design process consisting of 9 stages. The activity…

The importance of STEAM education in preparing students to deal with societal challenges is nowadays an international recommendation. We may find different perspectives concerning STEAM education and the integration of its disciplines. A possible pathway to achieve a balanced integration is through Engineering Design (ED), starting from problems…

Background: Implementing maker education in schools is on the rise, fuelled by its potential to move formal education towards a creative, technology-driven 21st century learning culture. In maker education, collaborative learning takes place through and around various digital and traditional technologies, which provide the means for students'…

Self-regulation of learning refers to the actions that students perform before, during and after their learning processes take place and has a social and collaborative component. This article analyses key dimensions of learning regulation in a sample of 697 students from different subject areas (Education, Engineering, Economics and Law studies)…

Engineering design provides students with an authentic context to apply science and mathematics to solving problems and motivates them to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Thus, teachers need to experience and become familiar with engineering design. However, little is known about how preservice teachers…