2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The education of engineering students under the STEM approach has been widely emphasized with the goal of preparing individuals to make informed decisions, develop skills to address real-world problems, and contribute to actions that benefit society. This need to support students through STEM has also highlighted the importance of preparing future mathematics educators in engineering programs who are capable of overcoming the challenges involved in integrating multiple disciplines [1], [2]. However, given their academic backgrounds and training programs, mathematics educators often face difficulties when teaching content from other disciplines [3]. Furthermore, within STEM integration, mathematics is often underrepresented [4]. Therefore, it is essential to address STEM education in future mathematics educators’ preparation programs in ways that make mathematics meaningful and applicable in engineering contexts. This work-in-progress paper presents the progress of a qualitative case study [5] exploring how future mathematics instructors in engineering modify and adapt their models when participating in a STEM-integrated learning experience. For this study, the learning experience was designed around the engineering context of selecting the cross-sectional design of a beam for constructing water cisterns. The theoretical foundations of this research draw on a conceptual framework that integrates the Models and Modeling Perspective [6] with the Appropriate Technology [7] framework. Data sources include audio recordings and written work produced by participants during the activity. Data analysis will be conducted using thematic analysis [8] to identify and interpret the themes that characterize participants’ problem-solving processes as they engage with the STEM-integrated experience. This study seeks to expand knowledge on how to enhance pre-service mathematics teacher education through the incorporation of STEM integrated learning experiences.