Student Driven Engineering Design Projects

As part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Math and Science Partnership (MSP) between an urban, east coast, city school district and a private research university, city youth from three high-minority, high-poverty neighborhoods were taught the engineering design process both in-school and afterschool. Those in the afterschool program had STEM experts as mentors as well as a paid facilitator. They engaged in engineering projects from NPASS2 by Education Development Center, Inc. and from Engineering Adventure by the Boston Museum of Science for the first half of the year. Then, in the second half of the school year, they were given the opportunity to initiate their own student-driven projects. Students determined what problems and opportunities they saw in their own communities and chose one that they wanted to try to address using their engineering design skills. Third, fourth, and fifth grades students designed and built prototypes to attempt to use engineering to improve their community. For example, students designed portable homeless shelters, ultrasonic devices to free waste receptacles of rodents, and train track sensors to prevent accidents involving pedestrians. They then presented their design prototypes at a STEM showcase to their families, classmates, and teachers as well as their STEM expert mentors. Research indicates that afterschool program participants expressed higher interest in science and confidence in their capacity to do science than their classmates who were only engaging in STEM activities during the school day. These students’ understanding of the “test” and “improve” steps of the engineering design process was particularly strong.