Creating Engineering Design Challenges: Success Stories from Teachers

If you’ve ever wished for advice you can trust on how to make science and math more relevant to your middle or high school students, Creating Engineering Design Challenges is the book for you. At its core are 13 units grounded in challenge-based learning and the engineering design process. You can be sure the units are classroom-ready because they were contributed by teachers who developed, used, and revised them during the Cincinnati Engineering Enhanced Math and Science (CEEMS) program, a project funded by the National Science Foundation. Detailed and practical, the book is divided into three sections: 1. The rationale for making engineering an effective part of math and science instruction. 2. Thirteen engineering-related units, including the teacher-contributors’ detailed accounts, lesson plans, and handouts. Content areas include biology, chemistry, physical science, Earth science, and environmental science. Topics range from developing a recipe for cement to implementing geocaching to calculating accurate aim with slingshots and water balloons. 3. Guidance on how to develop, support, and grow your engineering practice. This section offers useful templates and frameworks for you as well as professional development guidance for your school. The contributors’ goal is to help you benefit from their hard-won experience. They write, “During our time with the CEEMS project, we learned a great deal from our mistakes and our successes, and we felt it would be important to share what we learned with the hope that you can build on your own success.” Working from their advice, you can develop a more student-centered classroom culture and nurture learners who are engaged in real-life engineering challenges.

Helen Meyer is an associate professor in science education at the University of Cincinnati. In her role as the director of the Fusion STEM Education Center, she works with STEM teachers and faculty on engineering, information technology, and teacher education projects. Prior to this experience, she taught secondary science in Wisconsin and New York City and with the Peace Corps in Swaziland in southern Africa. In her role as a science teacher educator, Helen wants to ensure that all children have equal access to high-quality science instruction so that they can make sense of the world and participate in our democratic society.