Children's Conceptions And Critical Analysis Of Technology Before And After Participating In An Informal Engineering Club

This mixed-methods study examines the way in which elementary-aged children participating in an informal engineering club and using Engineering is Elementary (EiE) curricula define technology and critically analyze how technologies may be beneficial or detrimental to people or the environment. Definitions of technology were measured using pre-post assessments, and further investigated through intensive pre-post interviews. Interviews also queried children about how they critically analyze technology. Consistent with larger studies of EiE assessment results, this study suggests that prior to exposure to the EiE curriculum, children had formed relatively narrow conceptions of what counts as technology. After participating in the club, most children’s conceptions of technology broadened. Both before and after club participation, children were able to elicit ways in which technology was beneficial or detrimental, yet the responses of some children were more elaborate than others. Interview data allude to the importance of concrete examples of technology as students reconstruct definitions of technology and consider how technology may be beneficial or detrimental to people and the environment.