Background: Computation and computational thinking are of great interest to both engineering research and teaching communities. Effective learning environments are needed to incorporate computational thinking within the engineering disciplines. Design-based research is uniquely positioned to address this need for designing effective learning…

Background: There is a need to find ways of productively engaging K-12 students with engineering design. I investigate a new class of physical models, referred to as Improvable Models, as scaffolds for helping middle school students productively engage in engineering design practices. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study is to answer two…