Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Reagan Curtis

Committee Co-Chair

Courtney Shimek

Committee Member

Courtney Shimek

Committee Member

Jake Follmer

Committee Member

Johnna Bolyard

Abstract

This document analysis of elementary science education practitioner literature, namely Science Activities and Science and Children, between the years of 2009-2022 was completed to gain an understanding of the ways in which engineering practices have been implemented in primary grade classrooms over time. The Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS) were released in 2013 and provided national standards that integrated engineering into the structure of science education. One justification for this inclusion was to help students solve major societal and environmental challenges of the future. The research divided the years into three time periods in order to provide a look into engineering implementation prior to the release of the NGSS (2009-2012), during a transition period surrounding the release (2013-2016), and following this transition in a post period (2017-2022) to identify trends within the practitioner literature concerning engineering in general and specific focus articles selected for the detailed description of the inclusion of engineering in a primary grade classrooms in the United States.

Research found that examples of inclusion of engineering within the primary grades science classroom appeared in practitioner literature throughout the time periods with no statistically significant variance, demonstrating a longstanding connection between science and engineering instruction in the primary grades. Using the Framework for Quality K-12 Engineering Education (Moore et al., 2014), analysis was conducted on focus articles and determined limited variance in how often each component of the framework was represented over time. Trends were identified including a strong representation in the areas of Problem and Background, Plan and Implement, Test and Evaluate, and Apply Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Knowledge. The areas of Ethics and Issues, Solutions, and Impacts were seen as weakly represented throughout all time periods. Looking past the framework, analysis showed engineering most connected to the physical sciences with some connections made to life science and earth and space science in all time periods. Connections between engineering and mathematics and literacy skills, including authentic writing experiences, were evident. Evidence of a specific Engineering Design Process usage began appearing in the transition period but a specific prescribed process was not the norm. The framework’s Complete Process of Design was only evident in 69% of focus articles and while Test and Evaluate was high, returning to the design after analysis of the complete design test was rare and found only in 32% of post period examples. The idea of play found a place in the experiences with a mention in 44% of the articles.

These findings suggest engineering has a natural connection to science instruction in the primary grades. However, there have been limited changes in the way engineering practices are implemented within the primary classroom over the time period of this document analysis. If the goal is truly to help prepare future problem solvers, further work is necessary to elevate engineering instruction to better incorporate the areas of ethics and understanding issues, solutions, and impacts with experiences that include more analysis of final products which lead to redesign and further testing.

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