Teachers Teaching Engineering Design in the Tufts Universtiy Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program.
Head, Elsa.
2011
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Abstract: Recently, there has been push to integrate engineering into the K-12
curriculum. However, most teachers have a limited background in engineering and therefore,
may not be prepared to teach it in their classrooms. Little has been done to assess what
teachers know about engineering, or to assess how to best prepare teachers to teach
engineering. The Tufts University Student Teacher ... read moreOutreach Mentorship Program (STOMP) was
founded to provide teachers with support from undergraduate university engineering students
who could act as resources to support the development of engineering knowledge and assist
teachers in integrating engineering into their classrooms. This study examines what
teachers enrolled in STOMP know about engineering design, their approaches to teaching
engineering design activities in their classrooms, and self-efficacy in teaching
engineering design to evaluate the overall impact of STOMP on K-12 classroom teachers. To
get a picture of teacher self-efficacy in teaching engineering and technology, teachers
enrolled in STOMP, as well as teachers who were not enrolled in STOMP, were asked to
participate in a short, one-time survey. To understand teachers' knowledge of engineering
design, teachers enrolled in STOMP were interviewed using a hands-on, think-aloud interview
task, which asked them to analyze a hypothetical student design and were observed during an
hour-long STOMP class. Results show that teachers with more STOMP experience showed higher
self-efficacy beliefs in teaching engineering design and more sophisticated approaches for
teaching engineering design activities in their classrooms.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2011.
Submitted to the Dept. of Education.
Advisor: Barbara Brizuela.
Committee: Chris Rogers, and Morgan Hynes.
Keywords: Education, and Engineering.read less - ID:
- z316qc99n
- Component ID:
- tufts:20854
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
