Page 90 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

APPENDIX B 75

Figure 1 Composite List of Core Engineering Concepts

It is important to note that, although the researchers’ goal was to identify core
engineering concepts appropriate to secondary level engineering education, the team was also
interested in larger issues and implications associated with the process. This type of reflective
discussion is consistent with how themes, issues, and outcomes emerge from qualitative research
and data analysis. To capture these ideas, the team maintained reflective notes throughout the
review and synthesis process. These notes have been compiled and will be presented as part of
the conclusions and implications section of this manuscript.

As Figure1 shows, there was remarkable conceptual consistency among the five major
inputs. Eleven of the 14 concepts were represented in all five inputs, and two concepts were
represented in four of the five. It is also clear that there is considerable conceptual overlap and
interaction among the concepts. For example, many, if not most, represent elements or aspects of
the engineering design process. This conceptual overlap makes sense given the interconnected
nature of engineering design.
It should also be noted that the list in Figure 1 is a distillation of a longer list of more than
100 themes, a substantial number of which were judged to meet the “core” and “engineering”
criteria, but not the “conceptual” criterion. Although these themes are important to engineering,
the goal of this study was to identify ideas judged to be the most conceptually robust.

Discussion and Implications
The review and synthesis process used for this study generated a list of core engineering
concepts appropriate for the curricular and professional development needs of secondary level
engineering educators. On a larger scale, the outcomes of the study include much more than a
definitive list of core engineering concepts. The difficult questions raised throughout the process
about the nature of engineering epistemology, the purpose of engineering education on the

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