Engineering in Your Classroom – Five Activities to Try
Change in the classroom can be an overwhelming process. At ProjectEngin, we always try to break any large-scale project or program into smaller steps in order to make entry easy. We focus on some core skills when encouraging teachers to think of Engineering Design as a powerful pedagogical tool. Before trying any long term projects, we encourage teachers to begin to change their classroom culture from passive to active, from individuals to collaborative groups, from routine to innovative, and from perfect to failure. Here are some ideas to try in your classroom along with prompts and tips to maximize the Engineering-related learning. Once you see how your students respond, you will be ready to make the leap to using Engineering Design to support a whole new kind of learning experience.
Silly Synthesis: Focus on creativity and innovation.
Give pairs of students two cards with two very different items on them. Challenge them to design something (s) by combining both. Have them think in terms of both physical and functional attributes.
Think telephone plus computer equals smart phone. What seemed impossible less than 40 years ago is commonplace today. Think big, think crazy, innovate, and invent.
Imagination Innovation: Focus on improvement of current products or processes.
Give students chart paper or white boards and ask team to re-design the classroom for students in 2030. You will learn a lot about how they view their learning space and needs. You may even get some ideas of what you can do now. Explain that everything can be engineered better. What stops us?
Failing Forward: Focus on failure as a learning experience.
Have groups of 2 or 3 students build towers out of 3 sheets of newspaper and 10-12 inches of Scotch tape.
The tower must be free-standing and at least 18 inches tall. Load them with books or other objects and film the failure. Did they tip, twist, or crumple? Based on what you saw happening, could you improve your building?
Engineering with empathy: Focus on the end-user
Have students learn what it means to function differently. Have them hold one hand behind their backs and complete simple tasks or close their eyes and cross part of the room. What simple technologies (tools or ideas) can help to make things easier for someone who functions differently? The best engineering starts with understanding the needs of your end-user. Most of our teachers who choose to do a prosthetic hand project start with type of “research”.
Your inner engineer: Engineering solutions to daily challenges; identifying constraints and criteria
Give students a selection of appropriate objects (photos or images also work well) and ask them to engineer a solution based on limitations (constraints) and criteria (goals). For example: “Can you make a tasty (criteria) lunch out of the ingredients in a refrigerator (constraints)?” Have them think about how they dress for school or some other specific event. You are limited by the clothes you have (constraints) and your sense of style (criteria). Can students think of other situations in which they “engineer” solutions?
These activities all highlight different steps in the Engineering Design Process in a fun, low-risk manner. By starting with challenges, ideas, and objects that are familiar to your students, you can present Engineering as a different way of thinking and problem-solving. It is a great way to “test the waters” with little upfront cost to you in terms of preparation, direct instruction, or class time.
Start small and you can begin to engineer big changes in your STEM classes! Contact ProjectEngin for more ideas.