Engineering Based Learning: A Paradigm Shift for High School STEM Teaching

摘要

In the US there is a huge gap between the demand and supply of the workforce trained in STEM areas. This gap is in part created by the fact that school-age children in the US show less interest in STEM subjects. Engineering-based approaches have been shown to improve student motivation for STEM subjects, but there is a need for a structured teaching methodology to make engineering-based pedagogy implementable in high school level education. This paper introduces a new teaching model, dubbed Engineering-Based Learning (EBL), to allow both teachers and students to follow a structured approach to teaching and learning STEM subjects in high schools. The building blocks of the EBL model are the engineering design process, computer-aided design, and capstone design experience, which is typically required in an ABET-accredited college engineering curriculum. EBL has been implemented and tested over a three-year research project in urban high schools, including but not limited to Boston Public Schools serving students from diverse backgrounds. The project has developed an effective two-week summer professional development program, called CAPSULE, to train teachers in EBL methodology. Teachers, who are trained in this program, have implemented EBL in their STEM classes. The project trained 82 high school STEM teachers (grades 9-12) from 45 school districts, and 62 distinct high schools. Over a period of three years, more than 4500 students have been taught by teachers trained in the engineering-based learning program. The results of student surveys and teachers' feedback reveal several observations: EBL is an effective new methodology for high school STEM teaching; EBL can help students learn, absorb, and retain STEM topics and concepts; there is a positive change in how students perceive STEM subjects and careers; and EBL is a bridge that can address the disconnect between theory and application in STEM classes.