Engineering is Elementary® | The Engineering Design Process

Design Parameters

The EiE project is rooted in a set of design parameters. These include:

Engineering Field: An engineering field (e.g., mechanical, materials, environmental) is the unifying theme for each unit. Throughout the unit, the story and activities explore the type of work done by engineers in this field.

Stand Alone: While the units are closely integrated with science concepts, they "stand-alone" with respect to other EiE engineering units; the units do not sequentially build upon one another and so can be used in any number or order.

Flexibility: The units are designed for children in grades 1-5. Cognitive and motor skills of the age group are considered in the development of EiE student materials, activities, and design challenges. Because many science topics spiral through multiple grades, the materials are designed for maximum flexibility. Teachers can make the design challenges simpler or more complex by using tips embedded throughout the unit. With slight modifications, the materials can be effectively used with all elementary grade levels.

Scaffolding: The activities within a unit progress from simple explorations of related science, engineering ideas, and the engineering design process, to a culminating, open-ended design challenge. The open-ended nature of design challenges allow students with varying academic abilities to succeed; they are easily scaled to meet the needs of both gifted and special education inclusion students.

Materials: Materials needed for the activities and design challenges tend to be simple, inexpensive, and in most cases are easy to find locally.

Appeal to Underrepresented Groups: Engineering examples and design activities are carefully chosen to be of interest to females and minority students. Women and most minority groups are still greatly underrepresented in engineering and technology. One core commitment of the project is to portray engineering and technology as fields that any person, regardless of gender, race, or ability, can succeed in. Educational research has identified ways that the format and content of activities can be more attractive to girls and marginalized populations. These findings are always considered during unit development.

Teaching Methods

The curriculum recommends teaching methods that are based in a constructivist view of learning, in which the ideas and skills that students bring to the learning situation are recognized. Students are encouraged to share their initial ideas about the problems and to examine these ideas in light of new information and activities introduced by their peers, teacher, and experiences. The pedagogical methods emphasized throughout the course include:

Learning Cycle: EiE uses the five "E" learning cycle:

Engagement: the students are drawn to the challenge because it is interesting to them. The storybooks that commence each unit are designed to capture students' imaginations. Students share their ideas about the problems raised in the story.
Exploration: the students begin to explore related science and engineering principles in brief activities. During this phase they encounter problems or ask questions leading into the explanation phase.
Explanation: students describe what they think is happening and are ready to learn from their peers and teacher.
Elaboration: students apply what they have learned to meet the larger design challenge.
Evaluation: students reflect on what they learned.

Contextual Learning and Problem Solving: Curricula often fail to show students how what they learn in school connects with the world around them. The engineering problems in EiE demonstrate how math, science, engineering, cultural understanding, and creativity are needed to solve a problem. Situating learning in a larger context piques students' interest and helps them to understand how classroom learning interacts with the real world and can be used to solve problems.

Collaborative Learning and Teamwork: Like real-world engineering projects, most EiE activities are done in small groups. With good management from the teacher, this can encourage students to consider more than one solution or idea and work together to develop a design. Working in small groups also provides the opportunity for students to refine communication skills.

Communication: Students need to communicate what they are doing and why, which can encourage deeper reflection. The EiE project encourages children to communicate their ideas through a number of modalities: oral, written, drawn, and built. Whole class discussions moderated by teachers can prompt students to share their insights and learning.

Projects: Assessment of engineering and technology understandings and skills requires more than paper and pencil assessment. EiE projects encourage teamwork and communication. Particularly during the engineering design challenge, students work together to design and create solutions to a problem.