ISTE Standard for Educators 5b: Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.
ISTE Standard for Educators 7a: Provide alternative ways for students to demonstrate competency and reflect on their learning using technology.
Context and Background
I have been using the engineering design process to encourage my students to be creative and see possibilities with technology to solve real world problems. I have done a problem-solving unit in grades 4-8 for over 6 years now and each time I do this unit it improves. Since beginning this unit for the first time, I have compiled a number of resources and tools to help students better understand the engineering design process and to improve their products through this experience. I have found great videos and books explaining the engineering design process and how it is used by real engineers and scientists, I have compiled an ongoing list of “needs” around the school and community for my students to tackle using their 3D modeling capabilities, and I have a good idea of how to set students up for success in finishing up their projects so that things turn out well when they are printed.
Problem and Success Criteria
The one area that I struggle with is keeping my students on a timeline and also documenting their designs throughout the process. I have tried using a multitude of tools, high and low tech, over the years , but I just haven’t found anything that has solved the problem. I want to find a tool that will help keep my students moving forward through the design process (especially as it usually takes a number of weeks so something that I can hand out at the beginning of the project that they can use the whole time). Edutopia describes the precise benefit of providing structure for such an open-ended project like a genius hour or a design cycle. “I utilized my learning management system to build folders for each of the benchmarks that I wanted my students to achieve on the project. I also created a Google presentation with all the materials I would need for each Genius Hour day. By having all of this ready to go ahead of time, I could “let go” as a teacher so that the students could move at their own pace, while freeing up that valuable face-to-face time for me to work with the kids one-on-one” (Carter, 2014). So, one thing I need from my tool is for it to be able to store common benchmarks as my students work. I also need something that will allow me to ask relevant questions and provide space for them to add notes and commentary. In addition, it needs to be digital because so much of what we are doing on these projects involves 3d models or digital media that they need to be able to include those artifacts easily. I need it to be fast and easy to use; these are big groups of students, who will already be covering new information as well as using 3D modeling software, so I need something that won’t be challenging to sign in to or to navigate. It must be fast and simple, or I won’t use it. I see these students less than 2 hours a week, and I need every moment I can to be focused on the project, not logging in or finding the right page. The final thing I would like from this tool is for it to be free*. Although I do this project a few times each year, I know that I have been able to do it for free for the past few years, and there is already a cost associated with this project in the form of filament for 3D printing so any way I can keep the cost down would be awesome. The district has an app or tool request form for anything more than $5 per license so that’s my bar.
So, here is my criteria I will be judging each tool on:
- Benchmarks or Timelines
- Guiding questions or Prompts
- Space for reflections
- Easy to add digital artifacts (videos, photos, links)
- Fast and easy to get into for all my students
- Free (or under $5 per student)
Based on these criteria, and the unit it is developed for, I decided to look for a Digital Engineering Design Notebook.
The Engineering Design Notebook
The Engineering Design Notebook is a tradition spanning back centuries, even to Leonardo da Vinci who used one to dream up flying machines and other fanciful ideas. They are still a staple of modern engineering and are used in conjunction with very technical fields such as robotics, including being part of most student engineering competitions such as First Robotics and VEX.
Tool Reviews
VEX Notebook
The notebook is just that, a blank space for the engineers to record their ideas, workshop solutions to problems, and to make notes of any changes to their designs and why. That’s exactly what I want my students to do. However, I don’t want just a blank page. These are students learning about the process! I want to be able to have guides, checkpoints, timelines, and examples so they know what my expectations are. While this digital notebook includes some schematics for the equipment used in this robotics competition, it does not include any guiding questions or process structures.
- Benchmarks or Timelines
- Guiding questions or Prompts
- Space for reflections
- Easy to add digital artifacts (videos, photos, links)
- Fast and easy to get into for all my students
- Free
Arduino Notebook
I came to this product after looking for Google’s Science Journal and finding that product is discontinued and instead points here (Google, 2020). This tool integrates the sensors found on phones and tablets and uses them as data inputs for science experiments. I downloaded the app on my phone to play around and followed a few lessons from the archives. The app was free with the option for Teachers to pay for additional tools and options for their students. While the tool was fast getting started, I was responsible for adding things directly rather than following a pre-built plan on my device. If I wanted to download a pre-built plan from say Google Classroom, onto my device I would have a series of steps to follow (which concerns me due to its complexity). Also, though this would be a super fun tool in a math or science class, it’s focus on using graphs and sensors to gather and display data such as acceleration or decibels, does not align well to my project. I will certainly recommend this tool to an 8th-12th grade science or math teacher, but it’s just not for me.
- Benchmarks or Timelines
- Guiding questions or Prompts
- Space for reflections
- Easy to add digital artifacts (videos, photos, links)** Different Digital Artifacts
- Fast and easy to get into for all my students
- Free** Fremium
Multitools
I found some great resources for creating custom templates for students to use as guides and outlines for digital notebooks. Many of these included PDFs or printable which could be digitized. Science Buddies had a ton of resources to help teachers and students ask great guiding questions and create a totally reasonable timeline together (Science Buddies). I also looked at more broad tools like a template using google docs, slides, Padlet, or a website to house some of these resources as a bespoke digital engineering design notebook. When looking at these I realized that a tool that offers more flexibility for me to change up the timelines or guiding questions based on the age of the students, the problem they have selected, and the depth of the design process would actually be great, so using a broader tool might be the right way to go.
Google Docs or Slides
I have used this method a few times with mixed success. I used google Docs/Slides with my 4th and 5th graders a few times and what I have found is that while I can easily create a template project with lots of deadlines, examples, and questions to spark reflection, it is very difficult to manage as the project goes on because if there are any changes I want to make along the way I need to open each students journal and edit it individually. It’s also not the fastest to use; while my students are using google products in other classes and it’s important to become efficient when using these tools, there are a lot of icons, processes, and logins required when using these tools to add images or videos or even to get the template the first time. It’s decent, but it’s not great and that’s why I’m looking for something better.
- Benchmarks or Timelines ** Teacher Made
- Guiding questions or Prompts ** Teacher Made
- Space for reflections
- Easy to add digital artifacts (videos, photos, links)
- Fast and easy to get into for all my students
- Free
Google Sites
I have also used websites for this project with my older students, usually middle school. In the past I have not provided templates for my students to use but asked them to add and incorporate specific elements. I have also asked them to link or embed certain documents that I will digitally distribute. I have had mixed success with this. I found that the process was clunky and that I felt like I was asking for compliance and checking for completion rather than looking at the content. I want to make the focus on the design process not the website creation and documentation process. I browsed some google sites templates but did not find any for the scientific or engineering design process that would help streamline this process. While I could design a template, I feel that this tool is just too complicated and disconnected from the learning targets for my students.
- Benchmarks or Timelines **Teacher Made
- Guiding questions or Prompts ** Teacher Made
- Space for reflections
- Easy to add digital artifacts (videos, photos, links)
- Fast and easy to get into for all my students
- Free
Padlet
I have been using Padlet for quite some time and actually used it as a frame for the engineering design process with a group of 4th graders a few years ago with pretty good success. I was able to choose a display that showed the entire design cycle, could have all students on one page (which simplified my check-ins and grading, a big bonus), and it also provided a house for my own reflection on the process. Here’s what that group did.
You can see we came back to this webpage a few times though out the cycle, but there were also places where we didn’t do as much checking in. If I were to use this tool again, I might also make another column or two or more which asked some guiding questions on how their product’s models are going and how they are choosing what changes they are making. I wish I had more reflections documented here.
Some things that went well with this tool however were that it was free, they did not need to sign in and they could scan a QR code to get to this page, and it’s wicked easy to add a comment or post which includes links, drawings, photos, videos, or text. Additionally, I have already built a template that I know works pretty well and I know what tweaks I should make to improve it. (Look at me using my design process right here!)
- Benchmarks or Timelines** Teacher Created *Already Done
- Guiding questions or Prompts **Teacher Created
- Space for reflections
- Easy to add digital artifacts (videos, photos, links)
- Fast and easy to get into for all my students
- Free
Final Thoughts
This week I investigated ways to help my students plan for and document their journey of an open-ended project using the engineering design process when creating 3D models. I was seeking a tool that would help students participate in authentic and real-world problems. In my journey to find a fabulous tool that will help keep my students organized and on target for their timeline, I found a number of almost perfect tools. In the end, I believe that what I really should do is focus on creating a template using either a tool that my students are familiar with (such as google slides) or a tool that does not require signing in (such as Padlet). This allows me to customize my prompts and timelines for each class, while also streamlining my roll out each year. While I’m disappointed that there isn’t something already out there that is a perfect fit for this project, I am pleased to know that I haven’t missed something all these years. If you are interested in trying out my updated Padlet template, please check it out here. If you use it, come back and let me know how it went!
Resources
Arduino Education, www.arduino.cc/education/science-journal. Accessed 14 May 2023.
Carter, N. “Genius Hour and the 6 Essentials of Personalized Education.” Edutopia, 4 Aug. 2014, www.edutopia.org/blog/genius-hour-essentials-personalized-education-nichole-carter.
“Engineering Design Process.” Science Buddies, www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-process/engineering-design-process-steps. Accessed 14 May 2023.
Get Started Notebooking – Rec Library, kb.roboticseducation.org/hc/en-us/articles/8374007847575-Get-Started-Notebooking. Accessed 14 May 2023.
“ISTE Standards: Educators.” ISTE, www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-teachers. Accessed 14 May 2023.
