Using Laboratories To Teach Engineering Skills To Future Teachers

During the 1999-2000 academic year, the authors created and offered to elementary and middle school pre-service teachers a course on engineering problem solving. This course was designed to build the knowledge base and strengthen the confidence of future teachers when working with science, engineering, and mathematics principles using laboratory-based activities as the foundation for learning. Using the theme “Our Material World”, the authors sought to integrate concepts and principles involving physical, mechanical and chemical behavior of materials as a means to teach engineering problem solving skills. Through the use of frequent laboratory exercises, our goal was to “demystify” for these future teachers some of the fundamental ideas of science and engineering and to heighten their interest and skill level in effectively communicating these ideas to K-12 students. In the first offering of this course (Spring 2000), we initiated the process of “engineering problem solving” with laboratory-based activities by first forming teams to promote collegiality among the pre-service teachers and to provide a supportive framework for their entrance into potentially unfamiliar territory of problem solving from an engineering standpoint. Team formation was accompanied by a strong commitment to regular “teaming” activities providing ample opportunities for students to literally put their “hands to the task” of experimenting with the new concepts to be learned. Mixed with a lively interaction among the three faculty members (and the students themselves) this quickly broke down many barriers to students’ actively and cooperatively learning new concepts. The course was taught in a cooperative learning environment, integrating numerous hands-on activities with brief lectures coordinated to provide “just-in-time” information for current team activities. By doing rather than merely observing, students engaged in “constructivist” instructional techniques.