ChangeMaker K-12: A Digital Platform for Supporting Elementary Teacher Candidates in Teaching Engineering and Human-centered Design

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the preparation of undergraduate teacher candidates in the effective teaching of engineering design and human-centered design. ChangeMaker K-12, an IUSE: EDU Track 1, Engaged Student Learning, Level 2 project, combines and scaffolds high quality learning experiences for teacher candidates in design awareness, engineering design, and human-centered design, with high quality teacher candidate clinical experience during undergraduate education programs. Changemaker K-12 resources are designed to support future teachers in two distinct ways: (a) resources are designed to scaffold teacher candidates in solving real world problems in education with human-centered design processes (embedded in undergraduate coursework), and (b) intensive clinical experience resources provide support for engaging elementary school children in engineering and human-centered design. The goal of this project is to improve the preparation of undergraduate teacher candidates in the effective teaching of engineering design and human-centered design. To achieve this, this project proposes to scale ChangeMaker K-12 to include four teacher preparation programs through a process of iterative design, interactive development, dissemination, and propagation. This project will advance knowledge of (a) teacher education program attributes that contribute to teacher candidates' ability to engage diverse populations in high-quality engineering and human-centered design, (b) design principles for web-based platforms and professional learning materials that facilitate the development of teacher candidate preparedness in using human-centered design processes, practitioner inquiry, and effective implementation of engineering design, and (c) teacher candidate adoption of educational innovations, barriers that hinder adoption, and effective support to facilitate and encourage adoption. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. Partial funding for the project is from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.