2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A Case Study Investigating High School Teachers’ Implementation of an Engineering-focused Biologically Inspired Design Curriculum (Fundamental Research)

Presented at Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE) Technical Session 13: Attitudes & Prespectives of Teachers

This research study explores teachers’ implementation of an engineering-focused bio-inspired design curriculum. The participants included two teachers who implemented the curriculum within their classrooms. Teachers were purposively selected for this qualitative case study due to their prior professional learning participation in Spring 2022. The findings of this pilot study indicate that teachers’ implementation was influenced by their comfort with biology and/or engineering content knowledge. Yet, both teachers enforced active learning via discussions and group work. Some of the changes to the curriculum derived from teachers’ content knowledge and experiences, while other changes were directly linked to the professional learning experience and the curriculum.

Authors

Dr. Abeera P. Rehmat http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4977-5830 Georgia Institute of Technology
Alexandra A. Towner Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Meltem Alemdar Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Meltem Alemdar is Associate Director and Principal Research Scientist at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC). Her research focuses on improving K-12 STEM education through research on curriculum development, teacher professional development, and student learning in integrated STEM environments. Dr. Alemdar is currently PI and co-PI on various NSF funded projects. Her expertise includes program evaluation, social network analysis and quantitative methods such as Hierarchical Linear Modeling, and Structure Equation Modeling. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, with a concentration in Research, Measurement, and Statistics, from Georgia State University.
Dr. Michael Helms Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Michael Helms is a Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where his research focused on improving design creativity.
Dyanne Baptiste Porter http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5693-1571 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Dyanne Baptiste Porter is a postdoctoral research fellow at Georgia Tech Center for Education Integrating Mathematics, Science, and Computing (CEISMC). Prior to earning her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education, she taught high school mathematics for eight years. Her research interests include interdisciplinary mathematics teaching and learning, equitable teaching and learning practices in STEM, and increasing representation in advanced mathematical sciences.
Roxanne Moore http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0536-4957 Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

Roxanne Moore is currently a Research Engineer at Georgia Tech with appointments in the school of Mechanical Engineering and the Center for Education Integrating Mathematics, Science, and Computing (CEISMC). She is involved with engineering education inno
Mr. Jeffrey H. Rosen Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]

After 14 years in the middle and high school math and engineering classroom where Mr. Rosen was working on the integration of engineering and robotics into the teaching of the core curricula classrooms. He has now been at Georgia Tech's CEISMC for the pas
Dr. Marc Weissburg [biography]

School of Biological Sciences, Co Director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design, project PI

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