Merredith Portsmore

Gender differences in confidence levels, group interactions, and feelings about competition in an introductory robotics course

Classroom environment influences each students educational experience. The aim of this classroom evaluation was to gain a better understanding of how each gender functions in an introductory robotics class, where LEGOs and ROBOLAB were used as a tool to teach engineering principles and basic robotics concepts. A better understanding of how each gender performs in reaction to the classroom setup will hopefully lead to the development of a learning environment that is mutually beneficial to each gender. The course, a general freshman introduction to engineering, targeted for this evaluation required students to complete robotic challenges while working within groups and participating in design competitions. The present evaluation explored gender differences in self-confidence levels related to robotic tasks, feelings toward competitions as a component of the course, and differences in the way males and females interact within groups. Assessment was conducted through interviews, observations, and written questionnaires. Competency in robotics activities was found to be similar although males were found to be more confident of their own abilities. Both genders felt the competitions were enjoyable and integral to the atmosphere of the class. Males in the class took the competitions more seriously than did the females. Building and programming robots were thought to be their greatest areas of learning by the women. Males, on the other hand, cited working in groups and learning to compromise as the areas where they made the greatest improvements.

Elementary School Engineering for Fictional Clients in Children’s Literature

The stories children read in elementary school can provide rich problem spaces for engineering design. In this chapter, we present snippets from our project, Integrating Engineering and Literacy (IEL), of students in grades three through five engineering for fictional clients. Children draw from the text to identify problems their clients encounter, consider and plan possible solutions, and test and revise their ideas. One finding is that children’s interest in the characters and understanding of the stories supports their thinking as nascent engineers. They use their understanding of the world and draw on past experiences to act as engineers while attending to relevant details the story. Educators should see these as strengths and build on them, listening to students and their ideas.

Novel Engineering in Early Elementary Classrooms

This chapter provides another rich example of an integrated approach to early engineering education, namely the Novel Engineering program, which is designed to teach engineering and literacy in elementary and middle school classrooms. Through this approach, students derive engineering problems from classroom texts and then move through the engineering design process as they build solutions that are influenced by the characters, settings, and plots about which they are reading. The chapter introduces the Novel Engineering approach, shares how it has been implemented at the early elementary level, and leads the reader through examples of engineering and literacy integration. Finally, the chapter discusses what research associated with this project has found.