Using Engineering Design Challenges to Engage Elementary Students With Gifts and Talents Across Multiple Content Areas

Abstract

With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards and the adoption of the standards by many states, teachers are encouraged to use the engineering design process (EDP) as an instructional approach to teaching science. However, teachers have limited time to teach science and will often neglect science in favor of mathematics and literacy instruction. To make this feasible for elementary classrooms, teachers should be encouraged to implement integrated units of study utilizing EDP to cohesively bind content areas and to increase active learning, critical thinking, and problem solving among all learners. An additional benefit of using EDP as an instructional strategy is the focus on problem solving and the avoidance of one size fits all learning. Students actively engage in learning content (science, mathematics, literacy, social studies) as they collaboratively work together to solve societal and environmental problems. Knowledge is built as students progress through the challenges and content is provided on a need to know basis, thereby differentiating instruction based on learner needs and challenging gifted learners. In this article, the author provides four sample engineering challenges that can be used to create an integrated unit of study using the EDP as an instructional strategy.

Perceptions of K-12 Teachers on the Cognitive, Affective, and Conative Functionalities of Gifted Students Engaged in Design Thinking

“…Technology and engineering education, career and technology education, and displine predecessors are ideally positioned for intersections of natural differentiation, relevancy, and creativity to benefit gifted students (Brenneman, Justice, & Curtis, 1980;Colson, Milburn, & Borman, 1983;Dailey, 2017;Dailey, Cotabish, & Jackson, 2018;Gentry, Hu, Peters, & Rizza, 2008;Mentzer, Reed, Alnouri, & Barbarji, 2018). According to Mann et al (2011):For students who have been identified as gifted but spend the majority of their day in regular education classrooms, engineering design activities present opportunities for varying levels of sophistication, breath, and depth of understanding, thus providing them with appropriately challenging tasks" (p. 651).…”

Investigating Perceptions and Skills of Gifted Students in STEM Education

“…The rapid changes in the new world have brought the need for a quality STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education model content that will prepare students for future conditions in the education of gifted students, which has a significant impact on the development of societies (Dailey, 2017;Jolly, 2009) since gifted students need differentiated and enriched learning environment contents (Lee, Baek, & Lee, 2013). At the same time, gifted students have above-average science knowledge, creativity (Han and Shim, 2019), and high interest, talent (Lee, Matthews, Boo & Kim, 2020), and motivation (Jang, Chung, Choi, & Kim, 2013) to keep their interest in these areas alive, and it is important to provide opportunities.…”