Engineering Design Education for Preservice Teachers
Engineering Design for Preservice Teachers
As a collaboration between the Technology Division at the Cullen College of Engineering (Dr. Weihang Zhu) and the teachHOUSTON program at the College of Natural Science and Mathematics (NSM) (Dr. Mariam Manuel and Dr. Paige Evans), UH has received National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant #2141674 to enhance the Engineering Design Education of high school preservice STEM teachers. The project is assessed by the Director of the Assessment at Technology Division, Mr. Peter Weber. The methodology of this project is to dissect 3D printers and explain the main mechanical components of 3D printers. This helps teachers to learn the working mechanism of these mechanical components. After learning, they will have a much better idea on how 3D printers work, how to fix them when they break down, and create 3D models that are better compatible with 3D printing process.
- The first version of the course materials has been developed and disseminated to 8 teachHOUSTON preservice teachers attending the summer 2023 research program at the Technology Division. The same materials have also been distributed to the 15 high school teachers attending the summer 2023 RET site at the Technology Division.
- The first offering of the Engineering Design and Technology for Preservice Teachers was in Spring 2024 semester.
- The course materials have been disseminated to 8 teachHOUSTON preservice teachers attending the summer 2024 research program at the Technology Division.
- The second offering of the course has been taught in fall 2024 semester.
Besides, we are supported by multiple engineering education grants from NSF:
RET (NSF Grant #1855147): https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1855147
tH-ACCESS (NSF Grant #1950036): https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1950036
RE for Preservice Teachers (NSF Grant #2220683): https://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2220683
Relevant Publications:
- Weihang Zhu, Mariam Manuel, Paige Evans, Peter Weber, Implementation and Evaluation of an Engineering Design Process Course for High School Preservice Teachers based on 3D Printer Component Analysis, American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference 2025, Montreal, QC
- Weihang Zhu, Mariam Manuel, Paige Evans, Peter Weber, 3D Printer Dissected for the Engineering Design Technology for Preservice Teachers, poster, IUSE Summit 2024, Washington DC, June 2024
- Weihang Zhu, Mariam Manuel, Paige Evans, Peter Weber, Dissecting 3D Printing for Engineering Design Process Education of High School Preservice Teachers, American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference 2023, Baltimore, MD
Sponsor
