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High school student modeling in the engineering design process

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Abstract

A diverse group of 20 high school students from four states in the US were individually provided with an engineering design challenge. Students chosen were in capstone engineering courses and had taken multiple engineering courses. As students considered the problem and developed a solution, observational data were recorded and artifacts collected. Quantitative methods were used to identify how students allocated their time across different types of modeling. Qualitative methods were used to review data from three students who spent substantial time engaged in graphical and two kinds of mathematical modeling. These students were profiled and their patterns of modeling are represented visually and described in context. Much of the modeling done by these 20 students was graphical in nature. Few students informed their thinking with mathematical representations, yet predictive mathematical modeling is essential to engineering design. Implications for the classroom include encouraging students to transfer understanding of science and mathematics into technology and engineering contexts through modeling.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DRL-0918621. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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  1. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Nathan Mentzer, Tanner Huffman & Hilde Thayer

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  1. Nathan Mentzer
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Correspondence to Nathan Mentzer.

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Mentzer, N., Huffman, T. & Thayer, H. High school student modeling in the engineering design process. Int J Technol Des Educ 24, 293–316 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-013-9260-x

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