Most Higher Education programs lack courses on Engineering Education. Many (future) STEM teachers have difficulties to transfer engineering practices to a teaching level in their classrooms.
Household Appliances are a standard topic of engineering, offering a vast field of practical application examples. Experiences begin in early childhood and at home, with blenders, vacuum-cleaners or hair-driers. Module 10 uses these reach contexts to students’ lifes to teach important features of engineering, enhancing its impact through a hands-on approach.
Module 10 explores ways of incorporating engineering concepts and practices into STEM education with “Household Appliances” as exemplary topic.The engineering process evolves along a Design Thinking Process, the teaching applies innovative methods such as inquiry-based learning and gender-neutral ways of working.
Future teachers have to define and solve a task by developing and/or improving a technology. For instance, they will be asked to design and build their own vacuum cleaner, blender, hair dryer or any other type of electric home appliance.
To solve their tasks, future teachers are expected to work like engineers and generate creative solutions. The tasks explore the relationships among STEM practices and concepts and how they can be transfered to teaching and learning levels. Through practical real-world connections and interdiscplinary considerations, future teachers will have an opportunity to see how STEM is part of their everyday world and how different disciplines work together – in real life and in teaching.
Module 10 supports the development of engineering content knowledge, and skills and attitudes in and for engineering on a pedagogical level. You can use all materials in your STEM courses and classrooms:
STEMkey Poster on Engineering – Household Appliances in the Key Competence Framework
Download the materials for module 10 here, available in English, Slovenian, Norwegian & Slovak . The materials include an outline and a presentation.
