| NSF Org: |
EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 19, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 22, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1932631 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Kemi Ladeji-Osias
jladejio@nsf.gov (703)292-7708 EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | November 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | October 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $342,938.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $342,938.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
308 CONGRESS ST BOSTON MA US 02210-1016 (617)986-3666 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
308 Congress Street Boston MA US 02210-1034 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | EngEd-Engineering Education |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
Effectively solving engineering problems requires application of a broad array of skills. Recently, college-level engineering education researchers, as well as professional engineering organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, have highlighted the important role of empathy in the engineering field. Children begin to build the foundations for exhibiting empathy early on, that is, between the ages of 4 and 6. This is also a time when children are exploring their world through building with blocks and designing their own instruments; naturally exhibiting tendencies to engineer. The Creating Integrated Engineering and Empathy Curriculum for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Classrooms project will research the potential to positively impact educators and students through the teaching and learning of integrated engineering and empathy curriculum in pre-kindergarten (pre-K) and kindergarten (K) classrooms. Early education teachers have an opportunity to introduce and positively position engineering as an engaging discipline, but they can only do so when supported with high-quality curriculum and appropriate training. Explicitly integrating engineering and empathy at the pre-K/K level represents an innovative approach that leverages early childhood educators' strengths in supporting social development, which could increase educator comfort and likelihood of implementation. This work could also have profound impacts on participating students. Integrating empathy and engineering helps to position engineering as a caring profession, which can have positive impacts on interest in future careers, particularly for females. Better understanding the potential for early framing of engineering as a caring, empathic profession could have significant implications for broadening participation in engineering careers. Increasing the ability to incorporate integrated engineering and empathy in pre-K/K classrooms will pave the way for our youngest learners, the engineers and engaged citizenry of tomorrow, to practice and deepen the empathic capacities critical for the global workforce of the future
Boston Children's Museum, in partnership with Education Development Center|Center for Children and Technology and Boston Public Schools, will apply a design-based research approach to creating developmentally appropriate, hands-on engineering activities that explicitly integrate empathy (which, for purposes of this project, will be defined as the ability to imagine, describe, and understand the emotions of another) and engineering for prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms. The project research and development teams will work closely with stakeholders (educators, curriculum specialists, and district representatives) to achieve three main goals: (1) design an integrated engineering and empathy intervention model that meets the needs, priorities, and contexts of each stakeholder group, (2) establish preliminary evidence about the potential of the intervention to impact teachers and children, and (3) contribute to nascent research about what high quality, integrated engineering and empathy instruction looks like in early learning settings, specifically pre-K and K. This project will develop a set of engineering activities (the curriculum module) and teacher supports (including a professional development workshop) to support early childhood educators in bringing integrated engineering and empathy to their young students, and a set of design principles for the development of integrated engineering and empathy activities for the pre-K/K classroom. Project research will contribute to understandings in two main areas: (1) design considerations for developing high-quality integrated engineering and empathy resources for pre-K/K and the educator and student supports needed, and (2) establish the potential for these resources to impact pre-K/K educator understandings and perceptions of their ability to introduce engineering.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
At its core, engineering is one way that humans design things and solve problems. Being able to exhibit empathy, the ability to imagine, describe, and understand the emotions of another, is an important facet of engineering. Whether engineers are creating buildings, medicines, or space shuttles, their designs benefit from thinking carefully about the needs and feelings of the people who will use them.
Young children are playful explorers. They learn about their world through touching materials, building with blocks, using tools, and generally showing a natural inclination to engineer. Between the ages of 4 and 6, these young explorers are also beginning to build the foundations for exhibiting empathy. They are beginning to develop the ability to understand why another child might want a turn with a toy, or how their actions could make someone happy or sad.
Through the Design and Development: Engineering and Empathy Pre-K/K (E2K2) project, Boston Children's Museum and Education Development Center|Center for Children and Technology teams collaborated with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten educators to co-design activities that integrate engineering and empathy. Teacher supports, including a professional development workshop, and a set of design principles for the development of integrated engineering and empathy activities for the pre-K/K classroom, were also developed.
Educators who implemented E2K2 activities in their classrooms indicated that the program helped them develop a better understanding of empathy, of the engineering design process, understanding of what engineers do, and understanding of the connection between engineering and empathy. They also reported that the program helped them to support their students in developing empathy skills, in engaging in engineering, and in supporting children's empathy through engineering design activities.
Participating teachers were also asked to share their perceptions of student learning. Teachers felt that the activities supported children's understanding of the engineering design process, widened their conceptions of what engineers do, and also supported their empathy development.
The E2K2 project has generated knowledge in four key areas. First, the project established early evidence of promise in support of the premise and approach of the E2K2 model, which uses engineering design challenges with character-driven narratives to elicit perspective-taking and ultimately support young children's empathy development and engineering skills. Second, the project added to the field's understanding of contextual factors at the educator, classroom, and school levels that both support and limit if and how teachers are able to incorporate the E2K2 model into their teaching. Third, the project identified the types of professional supports and resources that build on educators' existing knowledge and practices to help them understand the value of the model and successfully implement the activities. Finally, E2K2 developed a set of design principles that can guide the development of new integrated engineering and empathy activities and the surrounding teacher supports.
E2K2 is based on the premise that involving young children in engineering, when done in a way that positions engineering as a caring, impactful profession and encourages children to develop and implement their social skills, will eventually influence a more diverse group of individuals to consider the field of engineering as a profession. Even for those who do not ultimately choose to pursue engineering as a career path, increasing implementation of integrated engineering and empathy activities in pre-K/K classrooms will introduce a diverse array of young learners, our future engaged citizenry, to engineering and empathy concepts that will generally reinforce STEM literacy for all who participate.
Last Modified: 03/04/2023
Modified by: Melissa Higgins
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