2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Current K-12 science reform advocates for the interdisciplinary infusion of engineering within the context of collaboratively engaging learners in real-world problems. As such, K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers need adaptable conceptual and epistemic understandings of engineering as a set of discrete disciplinary knowledge, skills, and career paths. They should also understand engineering as a highly contextual, socially and culturally bound, and solutions- and goal-based endeavor. Yet, research has repeatedly revealed gaps in teachers’ understandings: the same reservoirs of knowledge used by teachers to make instructional decisions in their classrooms. As such, attention is needed to both explore and provide targeted support for teachers’ epistemic understandings of engineering. If teachers cannot understand the nature, scope or validity of engineering knowledge, they may not be able to authentically portray or enact engineering with their learners.

Using a mixed methods approach, this proposal seeks to identify and characterize K-12 S,T,E, and M teachers’ (≥5 years STEM teaching) views of the nature of engineering knowledge. These teachers represent experienced practitioners in their fields who offer essential insights into learning how to support teachers’ epistemological understandings. Participants included 23 elementary (n = 7), middle (n = 8) and high school (n = 8) S,T,E, and M teachers who were part of a university-school partnership geared towards developing and implementing a multi-day standards-based STEM task in their classrooms. Data included participants’ responses to a previously validated Views of Nature of Engineering Knowledge (VNOEK) survey and researcher-developed STEM pre-survey. The VNOEK is comprised of 13 open-ended prompts centered on examining and optimizing a community-wide water filtration system. Data analysis consisted of independently coding and corroborating data using validated procedures with a focus on teachers’ VNOEK, and teachers’ responses were categorized as “Informed”, “General”, “Emergent”, “Problematic”, or “Absent”. Preliminary findings revealed that: (i) participants held largely emergent but contextually responsive epistemic understandings and (ii) unearthed potential differences in these understandings when compared across teachers’ grade bands and disciplines (e.g., S, T, E, or M). Additionally, teachers appeared to focus on the personal and community-based nature of the engineering problem, suggesting a clear entry point for bolstering their views. Findings suggest the need for additional exploration and comparison of teachers’ VNOEK across contexts (e.g., grade levels; experience; discipline) and provide concrete directions for further engineering education research.