Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) are excited to share 4 new research initiatives that have been funded recently. These research initiatives continue our mission for improving education through engineering. They support the research efforts of our faculty, staff, PostDocs, and students. Please read below to learn more about these new Tufts CEEO Grants.
Design Talks: Building Community with Elementary Engineering
The CEEO has received a new grant for Design Talks: Building Community with Elementary Engineering. The team consists of Kristen Wendell, Chelsea Andrews, Jessica Watkins, in partnership with teachers Rae Woodcock and Vera Gor. This is a 3-year grant from the NSF DRK-12 program. The purpose of this study is to identify and study the different genres of conversations, or Design Talks, that support elementary student sense-making and decision-making in engineering design experiences. It looks into how teachers prompt, support, and sustain Design Talks among their students. With this information, they hope to create an online Design Talk video library where elementary engineering teachers and curriculum developers can see distinctly different kids of whole-class work.
Piloting a Learning Assistant model for a Justice-based Engineering and Data science Initiative in ES-2 (JEDI-Pilot)
Another new research inititive for the CEEO is titled: Piloting a Learning Assistant model for a Justice-based Engineering and Data science Initiative in ES-2 (JEDI-Pilot). This project will make the sociotechnical aspects of engineering decisions explicit for students in the Introduction to Computing in Engineering (ES-2) first-year course through a two-fold intervention supported by trained upper-class equity learning assistants: (1) developing justice-based engineering and data science modules and (2) facilitating whole-class engineering justice discussions.
LEGO Foundation: Learning Through Play
The CEEO has also received a grant from the LEGO Foundation on learning through play. The team behind this research is Chris Rogers, Brian Gravel, Merredith Portsmore, and Ethan Danahy. This research is about understanding student thinking, creating tools and Infrastructure, and teacher support, and professional development. The researchers will be working with partners in Kenya, Rwanda, and Brazil.
LEGO Foundation: Online Professional Development
The LEGO Foundation gave another grant for online professional development. The research team includes Jennifer Cross and Elissa Milito. They are looking at the impacts of the new LEGO Education Online Teacher Professional Development Program on teacher attitudes and in-class instructional moves.
