The Tsunami Model Eliciting Activity: Implementation And Assessment Of An Interdisciplinary Activity In A Pre Engineering Course

This paper describes an interdisciplinary pre-engineering activity which was designed and implemented in a seventh grade pre-engineering course. The activity was designed for implementation in combination with Social Studies and Science classes. The activity is a Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) where students develop a model to specify requirements and costs for emergency housing after a large scale natural disaster – in this case, the 2004 tsunami. The activity and implementation plan are described in detail. The activity was tied to Indiana state standards in English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. This alignment to standards is discussed. A qualitative assessment was done after the initial implementation. This assessment focused on two areas including student perception of the activity and changes in student perception of engineering. The results showed that students found the activity valuable and the project enhanced their perception of engineers and engineering as a profession. This initial assessment consisted of student interviews; the answers were evaluated specifically assessing student impressions of the activity itself, the activity in relation to engineering and cultural factors (ie: Social Studies), and changes in student perception of engineering. The paper presents results of these assessments showing the effectiveness of the activity. Results from a post activity survey are included to validate the findings from the student interviews.