Teaching K-8 Students Engineering Design Process through Zoombinis

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

6-23-2018

Publication Title

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Volume

2018

First page number:

1

Abstract

Interest and attention of educators due to its potential for teaching and learning, or improving the skills of learners in the classroom. The main power of video games lie within continuous formative assessment and instantaneous feedback on skills taught within the game. Education literature emphasizes that video games are more capable of improving learners’ decision-making and problem solving skills than conventional instruction. Additionally, earlier studies highlighted the benefits of video games in conceptual understanding and process and skills inSTEM. Authors believe that serious video games should be integrated in K-8 science and engineering classrooms. Based on authors knowledge, there currently is limited evidence of using video games in K-8 engineering education. Integrating video games in K-8 engineering education is a novel way to introduce the concepts of engineering design process in science classrooms. Furthermore, with using video games, teachers can address Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) disciplinary core ideas, engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. In this poster, we will present Zoombinis, a video game to engage students in engineering design process. We will investigate to what extent K-8 students’ understanding of engineering design process changes when playing Zoombinis, a puzzle game designed to engage students in problem solving and computational thinking and will report the findings of our Work- In-Progress. Our results may have implications for use of video games, specifically Zoombinis,in K-8 engineering education.

Keywords

Video games; NGSS; Engineering design process; Engineering; Problem solving; Critical thinking

Disciplines

Science and Mathematics Education

Language

English


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