The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering

Younkyeong Nam; Sun-Ju Lee; Seoung-Hey Paik

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

Full Text (PDF)

Younkyeong Nam ¹, Sun-Ju Lee ², Seoung-Hey Paik ³ ^*

More Detail

¹ Pusan National University
² Korea National University of Education
³ Korea National Universtiy of Education
^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study investigated how engineering integrated science (EIS) curricula affect first-year technical high school students’ attitudes toward science and perceptions of engineering. The effect of the EIS participation period on students’ attitudes toward science was also investigated via experimental study design. Two engineering integrated science curricula (10 and 18 weeks) were purposefully designed and implemented for the study. Two important results emerged: (1) The EIS curriculum participation period (10 or 18 weeks) mattered in terms of changing students’ attitudes toward science and (2) A majority (>61%) of the students from both control and experimental groups who participated in the first EIS agreed that the curriculum positively affected their understanding of engineering practice. The results suggest that EIS is a potential pedagogical approach for reforming current science practice in technical high school programs to improve both students’ interest in science and career readiness. Implications for implementing EIS in technical high school settings are addressed.

Keywords

attitudes toward science
engineering integration
engineering perceptions
technical high school

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2016 - Volume 12 Issue 7, pp. 1881-1907

Publication date: 02 Jul 2016

Article Views: 1112

Article Downloads: 608

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Apedoe, X., Reynolds, B., Ellefson, M., & Schunn, C. (2008). Bringing engineering design into high school science classrooms: The heating/cooling unit. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(5), 454-465.
Bae, S-A & Geum, Y. C. (2009). Development model of activity-centered STEM education program in industrial and technical high school. Korea Home and Career Education Journal, 15(4) 345-368.
Baek, Y. S., Park, H. J., Kim Y., Noh, S. G., Park, J. Y., Lee, J., Jeong, J. S., Choi, Y., & Han H. (2011). STEAM education in Korea. Journal of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction, 11(4), 149-171.
Bennett, J., & Hogarth, S. (2009). Would you want to talk to a scientist at a party? High school students’ attitudes to school science and to science. International Journal of Science Education, 31(14), 1975-1998.
Billiar, K., Hubelbank, J., Oliva, T., & Camesano, T. (2014). Teaching STEM by design. Advances in Engineering Education, 4(1), 1-21.
Brophy, S., Klein, S., Portsmore, M. & Rogers, C. (2008). Advancing engineering education in P-12 classroom. Journal of Engineering Education, 97 (3), 369-387.
Burgin, S. R., McConnell, W. J., & Flowers III, A. M. (2014). ‘I actually contributed to their research': The influence of an abbreviated summer apprenticeship program in science and engineering for diverse high-school learners. International Journal of Science Education, 37(3), 411–445.
Choi, K. M. (2014). Opportunities to explore for gifted STEM students in Korea: from admissions criteria to curriculum. Theory into Practice, 53(1), 25-32.
Choi, K-N. (2001). A study of relation between education policy of industrial high school and avoidance situation of industrial high school (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Graduate School of Chung-nam National University, South Korea.
Cunningham, C. M., & Carlsen, W. S. (2014). Teaching engineering practices. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 25(2), 197-210.
Fontana, A., & Frey, J. H. (1994). Interviewing: The art of science. In Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 361-375). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Glancy, A. W., & Moore, T. J. (2013). Theoretical foundations for effective STEM learning environments. Education Working Papers (1-1-2013), School of Engineering Education, Purdue University. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/enewp/1
Guzey, S. S., Tank, K., Wang, H. H., Roehrig, G., & Moore, T. (2014). A high‐quality professional development for teachers of grades 3–6 for implementing engineering into classrooms. School Science and Mathematics, 114(3), 139-149.
Hjalmarson, M., & Lesh, R. (2008). Engineering and design research: Intersections for education research and design. In A.E. Kelly, R.A. Lesh and J.Y. Baek (Ed.), Handbook of design research methods in education: Innovations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning and teaching (pp.96-110). London: Routledge.
Hirsch, L. S., Gibbons, S. J., Kimmel, H., Rockland, R., & Bloom, J. (2013, November). High school students' attitudes to and knowledge about engineering. In 2013 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (Vol. 2, pp. F2A7-12). IEEE.
Hur, M. & Chae, H-S. (1997). A Survey on attitudes related to science between the vocational high school students and the general high school students. Korea Journal of Biology Education, 25(1), 25-34.
Hwang, W. Y., Chen, N. S., Dung, J. J., & Yang, Y. L. (2007). Multiple representation skills and creativity effects on mathematical problem solving using a multimedia whiteboard system. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 10(2), 191-212.
Kim, K-S. & Lee, C-H (2010). Study on images of technical high school students toward 'engineering' through semantic differential method. Journal of Korean Engineering Education, 35(2), 25-42.
Kim, B. & Kim, J. (2014). Analysis of articles related STEAM education using network text analysis method. Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education, 33(4), 674-682.
Kim, S., Yoo, H., & Choi, K. (2012). An analysis of global issues and STEM education related topics in 2009 national secondary science curriculum. Journal of Learner-Centered Curriculum and Instruction, 12(2), 73-96.
Korean Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (2013). Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2011; characteristics of Korean students’ achievement in mathematics and science (Research report PIM 2013-1). Retrieved from http://www.kice.re.kr/board.do?menuNo=361&boardConfigNo=69&boardCategoryNo =27
Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (2014). Issue analysis and plan establishment of creative science and technology human resource (Research Report, KISTEP 2014-006). Retrieved from http://www.kistep.re.kr/c3/sub2_2.jsp
Koszalka, T. A., Wu, Y., & Davidson, B. (2007, October). Instructional design issues in a crossinstitutional collaboration within a distributed engineering educational environment. Proceeding of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (pp. 1650-1657).
Kwon N. & Ahn, J. (2012). The Analysis on domestic research trends for convergence and integrated science education. Journal of Korea Association of Science Education, 32(2), 265-278.
Kwon, H. & Park, G (2009). Engineering design: the facilitator of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Journal of Korea Science Education Research, 3(2), 207-219.
Lachapelle, C. P., Phadnis, P. S., Jocz, J., & Cunningham, C. M. (2012). The Impact of Engineering Curriculum Units on Students' Interest in Engineering and Science. In NARST Annual International Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
Lee, H., Park, K. S., Kwon, H. S., & Seo. B (2013). Development and implementation of engineering design and scientific inquiry-based STEM education program. Korean Journal of Teacher Education, 29(3), 301-326.
Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (2010). Executive report to president Park Geun-Hye, Preparing creative human resources and advanced science and technology for Korea’s future. Retrieved from http://www.moe.go.kr/web/110499/ko/board/view.do?bbsId=346&boardSeq=14388
Moore, T. J., Miller, R. L., Lesh, R. A., Stohlmann, M. S., & Kim, Y. R. (2013). Modeling in engineering: The role of representational fluency in students' conceptual understanding. Journal of Engineering Education, 102(1), 141-178.
Moore, T. J., Tank, K. M., Glancy, A. W., & Kersten, J. A. (2015). NGSS and the landscape of engineering in K‐12 state science standards. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(3), 296-318.
National Research Council. (2009). Engineering in K-12 education: Understanding the status and improving the prospects. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Morgan, R., Jones, L. and Barlex, D (2013). New principles for design & technology in the national curriculum, E4E-education for engineering report. Retrieved from http://www.educationforengineering.org.uk/reports/pdf/e4e_report_feb2013.pdf
National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
NGSS Lead States (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2009). Top of the class – high performers in science in PISA 2006. Paris: Author.
Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins, S. (2003). Attitudes towards science: A review of the literature and its implications. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049- 1079.
Park, S., Park, J., & Kim, B (2007). The relationship between technical high school student’s learning style and science achievement. Research Report of the Research Institute of Secondary Education at Gyungsang University, 19, 143-165.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Park, M. S., Nam Y., Moore, T. & Roehrig, G. (2011). The Impact of Integrating Engineering into Science Learning on Student’s Conceptual Understandings of the Concept of Heat Transfer. Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education, 4(2), 89-101.
Roehrig, G. H., Moore, T. J.,Wang, H.-H. & Park, M. S. (2012). Is adding the E enough?: Investigating the impact of K-12 engineering standards on the implementation of STEM integration. School Science and Mathematics, 112(1), 31-44.
Schnittka, C. G., Bell, R. L., & Richards, L. G. (2010). Save the penguins: Teaching the science of heat transfer through engineering design. Science Scope, 34(3), 82-91.
Sung, E-S., Na, S-I. (2012). The effects of the integrated STEM education on science and technology subject self-efficacy and attitudes toward engineering in high school students. Journal of Korea Technology Education, 12(1), 255-274.
Tseng, K., Chang, C., Lou, S., and Chen, W. (2011). Attitudes towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in a project-based learning (PjBL) environment. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 23(1), 87-102.
Yuan, R. (2004). The globalization of science and engineering studies. Retrieved from, http://www.it.umd.edu/AS/EAST/cosmos.pdf

How to cite this article

APA

Nam, Y., Lee, S.-J., & Paik, S.-H. (2016). The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(7), 1881-1907. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

Vancouver

Nam Y, Lee SJ, Paik SH. The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(7):1881-907. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

AMA

Nam Y, Lee SJ, Paik SH. The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2016;12(7), 1881-1907. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

Chicago

Nam, Younkyeong, Sun-Ju Lee, and Seoung-Hey Paik. "The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2016 12 no. 7 (2016): 1881-1907. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

Harvard

Nam, Y., Lee, S.-J., and Paik, S.-H. (2016). The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(7), pp. 1881-1907. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a

MLA

Nam, Younkyeong et al. "The Impact of Engineering Integrated Science (EIS) Curricula on First-Year Technical High School Students’ Attitudes toward Science and Perceptions of Engineering". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 12, no. 7, 2016, pp. 1881-1907. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2016.1535a