Maker education can enhance learners' creativity. Design thinking can facilitate the innovative resolution of complex problems. The design thinking literature and most maker teaching modes are limited in their promotion of learning and ability development in various dimensions. Learners have stereotypes about some professions; interventions can…

This article describes a preschool art project in which students participated in the month long arts festival in Reno Nevada. Using the engineering design process, students imagined, brainstormed, made lists of materials, tested, designed and modified their design of a illuminated Chinese lantern.

Contribution: This paper qualitative research delineates the thinking and behavioral patterns that reflect students' advanced level of epistemological thinking in project-based learning (PBL) activities and the associated impact factors. Background: PBL has been widely adopted in engineering education for its effectiveness in improving students'…

In this research, Entrepreneurship and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) activity has been established to the gifted secondary school students and to show their applicability. Entrepreneurship and STEM will be shortened as E-STEM. The activity of Colors was implemented at Inönü University Scientific and Technological Research…

Aim/Purpose: This work aims to introduce and evaluate an instructional strategy that aids end-users with developing their software products during intensive project-based events. Background: End-users produce software in the labor market, and one of the challenges for End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) is the need to create functional software…

Engineering is a relevant tool to solve current challenges in a variety of fields. There is a demand for engineers in the workforce and a method to solve that demand is to introduce students to engineering prior to college coursework. One of the ways that students can engage with engineering earlier is through engineering design projects. This…

What if you could challenge your second graders to design an outdoor STEM classroom with a butterfly garden, birdbath, and sundial? With this volume in the "STEM Road Map Curriculum Series," you can! "Investigating Environmental Changes" outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while…

Industry and authors of 21st Century Skill Frameworks are calling for student proficiency in creativity, problem-solving, innovation, collaboration, and communication skills. This project involved 13 fifth grade gifted students in inventing products for a specified audience with a set of given materials, time limit, and topic constraints. The…

Statistical literacy is essential to scientific literacy, and the quest for such is best initiated in the elementary grades. The "Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics" set forth practices (e.g., asking questions, using tools strategically to analyze and interpret data) and content (e.g.,…

This study aims to compare and evaluate the learning ability and performance differences between two groups of students undergoing project-based learning (PjBL), with one group having prior PjBL experience, while the other group is being freshly exposed to PjBL. More specifically, it examines if there are significant differences in knowledge…

This article describes the steps incorporated to teach an engineering design process in a fifth-grade science classroom. The engineering design-based activity was an existing scientific inquiry activity using UV light--detecting beads and purposefully creating a series of engineering design-based challenges around the investigation. The…

This paper presents a case study examining 3rd, 4th and 5th graders' design fixation and cooperative learning in an engineering design project. A mixed methods instrument, the Cooperative Learning Observation Protocol (CLOP), was adapted to record frequency and class observation on cooperative learning engagement through detailed field notes.…

This paper presents an innovative, interdisciplinary, design-and-build course created to improve placement, content, and pedagogy for introductory engineering design education. Infused at the freshman level, the course aims to promote expert design thinking by using problem-based learning (PBL) as the mode of delivery. The course is structured to…

This paper presents the outcomes of teaching an inventive problem-solving course to middle school students. Contrary to the common view of creativity as a 'free flow of thought' or 'thinking out of the box,' the method under discussion stresses the use of diverse heuristic approaches for problem-solving and the invention of new products: for…

The purpose of this study was to identify the preferred instructional design strategies for the preparation of pre-service teachers who will deliver integrated STEM lessons. The research objectives were threefold and included identifying a preferred definition of integrated STEM education, developing its purpose statement, and creating a list of…