2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Integrating Engineering Design and Microelectronics in a Range of Pre-College Courses (Resource Exchange)

Presented at Instructional Showcase

Project Description: The goal of {project name redacted} is to integrate engineering design and microelectronics-related content, contexts, and career awareness into the pre-college classroom. Curriculum units were codeveloped with participating teachers and were tested in their classrooms. There are 13 units for secondary students that have been created and will be on display during the curriculum/resource exchange. The core content areas for the created units ranges include: science, mathematics, English Language Arts, Technology, business, and are designed for implementation in grade levels ranging from 5th - 12th grade. State standards were integrated into all lessons which allows for the substitution of these units for existing K-12 content. This work is developed to meet a call for integration of microelectronics across the curriculum. The units are to be shared publicly through a web platform for use in all classrooms. We will provide a takeaway with a link to the downloadable curriculum during the curriculum/resource exchange. Here, we provide short overviews of three of the 13 units:

English/Language Arts Unit (5th – 10th grades): Game On
In this unit, students learn that a company called GEM is looking to revive interest in board games and lessen screen time in students and families. They are planning to do this through adding BBC micro:bit technology into board games that the students create. Students will learn about informative writing, sequencing, and code writing as they plan their instructional manual and prepare an argumentative presentation to the client about their board game. Students will use the engineering design process (EDP) to test other team’s games, and then redesign and present their final prototypes after receiving feedback from peers and their teacher justifying their design choices.

Engineering and Technology Unit (7th – 9th grades): Let the Good Ideas Roll
In this electronics-focused engineering design unit, students are challenged to create an electronic expansion pack for the Sphero BOLT that considers the environmental impact of their proposed prototype as well other criteria and constraints. Throughout the unit, students will explore electricity, power, green energy, programming, and material sourcing. Students investigate microelectronic capabilities such as sensing, motors, and LEDS through the Sphero and the BBC micro:bit. Students use techniques such as mind-mapping, brainstorming, and design sketching to ideate. Students build a prototype and evaluate it using a decision matrix then end the unit by presenting their electronic expansion pack design to the client.

Algebra II and Pre-Calculus Unit (9th – 12th grades): Stressed Out!
In this engineering design unit, students will design a method to allow students to monitor stress during self-scheduled activities such as playing video games or doing homework. As they progress through the engineering design process, students will learn about critical point, min/max behavior, intercepts and continuity in the context of heart rate and general health related data. As students design stress-intervention methods, they will be exploring microelectronics using heart rate sensors and existing sections of micro:bit block-based code. By using graphical knowledge, students will make decisions about their model and present their solutions to the client.

Authors

Prof. Tamara J Moore http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7956-4479 Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Tamara J. Moore, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Engineering Education, University Faculty Scholar, and Executive Co-Director of the INSPIRE Institute at Purdue University. Dr. Moore's research is centered on the engineering design-based STEM integration in K-12 and postsecondary classrooms.
Siddika Selcen Guzey Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Dr. Guzey is a professor of science education at Purdue University. Her research and teaching focus on integrated STEM Education.
Dr. Greg J Strimel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4847-4526 Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Greg J. Strimel, Ph.D., is an associate professor and assistant department head for Technology Leadership and Innovation as well as the program lead for the the Design and Innovation Minor at Purdue University. Dr. Strimel conducts research on design pedagogy, cognition, and assessment as well as the preparation of P-12 engineering teachers.
Dr. Morgan M Hynes Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Dr. Morgan Hynes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University and Director of the FACE Lab research group at Purdue. In his research, Hynes explores the use of engineering to integrate academic subjects in K-12 cla
Dr. Kerrie A Douglas http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2693-5272 Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Dr. Douglas is an Associate Professor in the Purdue School of Engineering Education. Her research is focused on improving methods of assessment in engineering learning environments and supporting engineering students.
Dr. Molly H Goldstein http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2382-4745 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [biography]

Dr. Molly H. Goldstein is a Teaching Assistant Professor and Product Design Lab Director in Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering at the Grainger College at the University of Illinois. She is also courtesy faculty in Mechanical Science and Engineering, Curriculum & Instruction (College of Education) and Industrial Design (School of Fine and Applied Arts). Dr. Goldstein’s research focuses on student designers through the study of their design actions and thinking.
Rachel E. Gehr http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6011-9279 Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Rachel is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow pursuing her PhD in Engineering Education at Purdue University. She has earned a BS in Civil Engineering from LeTourneau University and MS in Environmental Engineering from Purdue. Rachel’s current research focuses on assessment of K-12 and college microelectronics curriculum, but she also has experience in photochemistry, water quality, PFAS remediation, and disinfection.
Emily M. Haluschak Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Emily M. Haluschak is a PhD student in the school of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Emily is interested in leveraging integrated curriculum development in K-12 settings to positively impact underserved populations in the field of engineering. She utilizes past experiences in STEM program evaluation, education policy, and chemical engineering research.
Ms. Azizi Penn Purdue Engineering Education [biography]

Azizi Penn is a professional software engineer, a California State University, Sacramento adjunct professor, and an engineering education Ph.D. student at Purdue University.
Ms. Breejha Sene Quezada Purdue Engineering Education
Deana Lucas Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

I am a Ph.D student in the Technology Leadership & Innovation Department, focusing on STEM Education Leadership at Purdue University.
JaKobi Burton Purdue University, West Lafayette
Dr. Mary K. Pilotte Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Mary Pilotte is a Professor of Engineering Practice in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. She is an instructor for Multidisciplinary engineering coursework, and is Director of the undergraduate Interdiscipli
Rena Ann Sterrett Purdue Engineering Education

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