ABSTRACT

The inclusion of engineering in science learning standards draws attention to the need to support pre-service teachers’ ability to teach engineering to young learners. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of two courses on pre-service elementary teachers’ self-perceptions of their ability to teach engineering and on their design of engineering activities. We explored whether adding engineering into a science methods course was sufficient and whether experiencing engineering in an Inquiry and Design Course (IDC) first was consequential. Despite the absence of pedagogical instruction in the Inquiry and Design Course, the pre-service teachers’ self-perceptions improved significantly. This shift carried into the methods course where a comparison group of pre-service teachers demonstrated major shifts but not to the same extent as the Inquiry and Design Course participants. Similar differences were seen between the two groups’ engineering activities created at the end of the methods course. This study suggests that first learning to engage in engineering, separately and before learning to teach engineering, is an important opportunity that many pre-service elementary teachers are missing.

摘要

将工程学纳入科学学习标准引起了人们对支持职前教师向年轻学习者教授工程学的能力的关注。本研究的目的是检验两门课程对职前小学教师对工程教学能力的自我认知和工程活动设计的影响。我们探讨了将工程学添加到科学方法课程中是否足够，以及首先在探究和设计课程 (IDC) 中体验工程学是否重要。尽管在探究与设计课程中没有教学指导，但职前教师的自我认知得到了显着改善。这种转变进入了方法课程，其中一组职前教师表现出重大转变，但程度与探究和设计课程参与者不同。在方法课程结束时创建的两组工程活动之间也存在类似差异。这项研究表明，在学习教授工程学之前，首先学习从事工程学，是许多职前小学教师所缺少的重要机会。