Sixth Grade Students’ Images Of Engineering: What Do Engineers Do?

There has been a growing interest in teaching engineering in the K-12 context. It is therefore somewhat surprising to find that there have been few investigations on students’ views of engineering and the nature of engineering (VNOE) at this level. This project is based on the assumption that understanding students’ VNOE has as much potential for impact on engineering education as the views of the nature of science investigations have had on the field of science education. The overall goal of this study was to investigate 6 th -grade students’ perceptions of the nature of engineering (NOE), and to understand the experiences that have shaped students’ perceptions of the field of engineering. The results of twenty 6 th grade students’ drawings of an engineer or engineers at work with associated interviews related students’ own drawings from two mid-west middle schools are presented. Results indicated many students held common misand naïve conceptions about engineering, engineers, and what engineers do; specifically that engineers drive trains, fix cars, build houses, and work alone.