Primary to Secondary Engineering Learning: A Framework for International Consideration

Abstract

The teaching of engineering has made its entrance into the subject of Design & Technology Education (DTE) around the world over the past few decades. This inclusion has been particularly true for the United States which refers to its DTE-related subject as Technology & Engineering Education. The inclusion of engineering has likely been due to the closely aligned epistemologies and classroom practices between engineering and DTE. But, while engineering has been emphasised in primary and secondary schooling, there has also been limited guidance for articulating how engineering could/should be taught, both authentically and equitably, across the years of school and how it is connected with other school subjects. To aid in this effort, a Framework for P-12 Engineering Learning was formed through over 3 years of iterative research and development work and published by the American Society of Engineering Education (2020). This framework was created to help provide a unifying vision and guidebook to inform decisions for improving the coherency and equity of engineering teaching and learning across the country. In addition, throughout this process, Engineering Performance Matrices (EPMs) were generated to offer sample blueprints of how the engineering concepts and sub-concepts identified within the framework could build upon each other to support teachers in creating authentic learning experiences that increase in sophistication over time—enabling students to achieve any designated engineering-related performance tasks or standards related to engineering/technology.  The goal of this poster presentation is to share the framework, and the EPMs, with the international DTE community for consideration of any useful components that could be adapted for their own efforts related to engineering learning. The poster will specifically highlight engineering literacy elements of the framework, the EMPs, and examples of ways in which this information can be used to establish engineering-focused instruction in the pursuit of engineering-literacy for all.