About the Project
In collaboration with Boston-area elementary schools, the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach (CEEO) at Tufts University, the PACE Center and Department of Education at Tufts University, and the Lynch School of Education at Boston College have been developing, implementing, and evaluating innovative curriculum models that transform elementary science learning through compelling engineering design challenges.
The primary motivation for this work is to address the need for improved learning and teaching of science in the upper elementary grades. We will address this need by developing and evaluating LEGOTM engineering design-based curricula that motivate the science content learning of upper elementary students.
Our research questions for this work have been:
- How do the science learning gains generated by engineering design curricula compare with the learning
- gains generated by conventional science curricula in the upper elementary grades?
- What are best practices for designing engineering curricula that are more effective at promoting elementary
- students’ fundamental understanding of, and interest in, science content?
- Do engineering contexts improve teachers’ practice of science instruction in the elementary grade
Curriculum Materials
The four curriculum units that we have developed are intended for third- and fourth-grade (8- to 11-year-old) students. Each unit poses an overarching engineering design challenge as a motivator for science investigations, uses interlocking (LEGO ™) construction elements for prototyping, requires approximately 12 hours of instructional time, and addresses a particular science domain. The Design a Musical Instrument unit centers on the science of sound, Design a Model House focuses on the properties of materials and objects, Design an Animal Model emphasizes the structural and behavioral adaptations of animals, and Design a People Mover focuses on the force-distance trade-offs of simple machines. The units’ learning objectives are aligned with local and national standards of science learning
Project Information
