K-12 Engineering Outreach: Design Decisions, Rationales, and Applications

Main Article Content

Gamze Ozogul
Jana Reisslein
Martin Reisslein

Abstract

Even though engineering outreach to K-12 schools initially seemed to be a simple undertaking, it proved to require complex design solutions related to a variety of issues. The purpose of this design case is to tell the story of our National Science Foundation (NSF) supported engineering outreach project, that took place between the years of 2007-2013. The design problem of this project started with the issue of how to design the engineering instruction, what to provide within the K-12 instruction, how to conduct the outreach, and how to overcome physical limitations of school sites. This design case captures the design process, context, various designs of the computer-mediated learning platform, and the rationales for design iterations. We also describe how the design team, which included experts in instructional design, electrical engineering, and educational psychology, as well as carpenters, teachers, and graphic designers, worked together to accomplish an outreach project that reached over 3,600 K-12 students. In addition to the design processes, we also report the major findings from our evaluation studies of the intructional modules delivered to K-12 students, and how we used these results to iterate and refine our module designs.

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How to Cite
Ozogul, G., Reisslein, J., & Reisslein, M. (2016). K-12 Engineering Outreach: Design Decisions, Rationales, and Applications. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.14434/ijdl.v7i2.20105
Section
K-12 Classroom Implementation
Author Biographies

Gamze Ozogul, Indiana University

Gamze Ozogul is an Assistant Professor of the Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. She has her M.S. from Middle East Technical University in Computer Education and Instructional Technology, and her Ph.D. in Educational Technology from Arizona State University (ASU). She completed her Postdoc in ASU’s School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering. Her research interests include instructional design, engineering education, and evaluation of educational programs. 

Jana Reisslein, Arizona State University

Jana Reisslein received her Ph.D. degree in educational technology from Arizona State University, Tempe, in 2005. Her research interests are in the areas of instructional design and evaluation.

Martin Reisslein, Arizona State University

 

Martin Reisslein received his Ph.D. in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. He is a Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University, Tempe. His research interests are in the areas of communication networks and engineering education.

 

 

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