Design Environment for Educator-Student Collaboration Allowing Real-Time Engineering-centric, STEM (DESCARTES) Exploration in Middle Grades

During Phase I, completed in 2016, the team developed a prototype of DESCARTES, including a workspace for students to design a virtual boat using engineering principles linked to a 3D-printer to create a physical representation of the boat. At the end of Phase I, researchers conducted a pilot study with four grade 4 classrooms and 92 students demonstrating the prototype operated as intended. Findings also showed that students were highly engaged while designing boats in the simulated environment and creating the boat with a 3D printer. Further, teachers were able to integrate the activity into classroom practice. In Phase II, the team will refine and expand the simulated environment, add new design modules, create supporting curricular units, optimize web deployment, and build out the teacher reporting dashboard. After development is complete, the research team will conduct a quasi-experimental pilot study to assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of DESCARTES to increase student learning in engineering topics. The study will include 14 grade 3 to 5 classrooms over 4 weeks. During an engineering unit, half of the classrooms will use DESCARTES and half will follow business-as-usual procedures. Researchers will compare pre-and-post scores on standards-aligned engineering topics and attitudes towards engineering.