Technology and Engineering Education has deep roots in Project Based Learning, with its beginning in the Industrial Arts, and tracing its ancestry to craft apprenticeships. This constructivist philosophy supports the idea that the creation of an artifact lends itself to higher order cognitive processes. This study analyzed the content of middle school Technology and Engineering Education Rubrics for evidence that higher order cognition was being assessed. Five raters coded ninety-eight performance indicators from six rubrics for the evidence of declarative, procedural, schematic, and strategic knowledge. Gwet's AC1 and percent agreement were calculated to determine inter-rater reliability. Additionally, the performance criteria were coded for six engineering constructs. The Engineering Constructs from the performance criteria were extrapolated to the performance indicators to see which Engineering Constructs were supporting higher order cognition. Analysis included the determination of whether or not the rubrics that were analyzed supported higher order cognition as well as their performance indicators, performance criteria, and which Engineering Constructs support higher order cognitive processes. / Doctor of Philosophy / What used to be known as the shop class, or Industrial Arts, has morphed into Technology and Engineering Education. With the emphasis now on teaching engineering processes and Project Based Learning instead of manual skills, there is a lack of research on whether or not the assessments have evolved enough to assess higher levels of cognition. Higher level cognitive processes in engineering design are defined as those processes that are used to troubleshoot and create. This study analyzed middle school Technology and Engineering Education rubrics to look for evidence of assessing higher order cognition. Rubrics are a commonly used tool in Project Bases Learning as a form of assessment. Rubrics are separated into two distinct parts: performance criteria; and their performance indicators. The performance criteria were analyzed for six different Engineering Constructs, and the performance indicators were analyzed for four cognitive constructs. The analysis looked for evidence of higher-level cognitive constructs, and which Engineering Constructs supported higher level cognitive constructs.

Visual communication (VC) resources can be seen as playing an increasingly important role in delivery and learning systems in today s design and technology education. The performance of current tools and resources is the primary concern of this research, and particularly whether they take full advantage of VC when delivering technological information to industrial design (ID) and engineering design (ED) students. This thesis sought key principles behind the visual communication of technology (VCT) and its association to designing, creativity and innovation through a literature survey. The findings concluded that there were many such assertions made with little evidence concerning the associations suggested. Some guiding sources and key emerging principles (KEPs) for good VCT practices were established. A miniature-kite-designing exercise was conducted as a case study for the purpose of examining the links between VCT, designing and creativity and/or innovation. Kite-technological-information posters were used as the VCT tool for the kite-designing case. A comparative study of kite-designing was conducted in Malaysia to check the reliability of the study, and another validation study was carried out for the purpose of establishing the validity of the data gathering. Visual technological information (VTI) for kite design (or a kite-poster) was refined accordingly to the KEPs established from the literature review, and its visual impact was tested through the use of eye-tracking technology. Some selected current and historical visual tools, which have been used in design and technology communication and were recognised as having positive impacts were analysed and articulated in order to reveal a deeper understanding of the KEPs. These were further validated through eye-tracking of reading patterns of participants on those selected visuals. The perceptual responses toward those visuals were also recorded and analysed. A theoretical research framework was established to investigate VTI representation used in books by Ashby (1999) and Ashby and Johnson (2002), in new authors scholarly papers (METU, 2010), and of the author s analysis and redesign of some of those studied VTIs based on the KEPs emerging from the research. A questionnaire survey was conducted within a number of higher education institutions in 3 regions around the world in order to achieve reliable data gathering. This third case study was validated through experts discussion of the findings and related issues. Within these three case studies, a mixture of scientific (using the eye-tracker device) and conventional methods (questionnaires, interviews, discussion group and comparative studies), and also others methods such as design workshops, analysing existing resources, using own practice of design-and-redesign activities were conducted to provide quantitative and qualitative measurements to empirically validate the literature search. Evidence of links between VCT, designerly activities which involved knowledge, skills and values within the technological communication, and of facilitating creativity was obtained. Empirical evidence showed that VTIs were effective in communicating knowledge, skills and values; where the KEPs criteria had played essential roles in enriching the visual emphasis of VTIs. The redesigning exercise using the author s own practice, which articulated the KEPs through the redesign of the existing VTIs for the purpose of more effective VCT, again obtained significant evidence of visual effectiveness and easy understanding capability. Evidence from the analysis of 2 books on materials technology for ID and ED students, views from the 2 materials experts, and the literature review suggested that ID and ED students require difference types of representational models and graphical strategies of VCT in their learning. However, the empirical data from the research, which was supported by one of the materials experts, suggested that ID and ED students even with different cultural backgrounds did not require different VTIs or the use of different VCT strategies for effective communication.

The purpose of this correlational research study was to determine if students’ academic success was correlated with: (a) the student change in achievement during an engineering design challenge; and (b) student change in mental motivation toward solving problems and critical thinking during an engineering design challenge. Multiple experimental studies have shown engineering design challenges increase student achievement and attitude toward learning, but conflicting evidence surrounded the impact on higher and lower academically achieving students. A high school classroom was chosen in which elements of engineering design were purposefully taught. Eleventh-grade student participants represented a diverse set of academic backgrounds (measured by grade point average [GPA]). Participants were measured in terms of achievement and mental motivation at three time points. Longitudinal multilevel modeling techniques were employed to identify significant predictors in achievement growth and mental motivation growth during the school year. Student achievement was significantly correlated with science GPA, but not math or communication GPA. Changes in achievement score over time are not significantly correlated with science, math, or communication. Mental motivation was measured by five subscales. Mental focus was correlated with math and science GPA. Mental focus increases over time were negatively correlated with science GPA, which indicated that the initial score differential (between higher and lower science GPA students) was decreased over time. Learning orientation and cognitive integrity were not correlated with GPA. Creative problem solving was correlated with science GPA, but gains over time were not correlated with GPA. Scholarly rigor was correlated with science GPA, but change over time was not correlated with GPA. (284 pages)

With the recent release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2014b) science educators were expected to teach engineering content and practices within their curricula. However, technology and engineering (T&E) educators have been expected to teach content and practices from engineering and other disciplines since the release of the Standards for Technological Literacy (ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007). Requisite to the preparation of globally competitive STEM literate individuals is the intentional, concurrent teaching of science, technology, and engineering concepts. Many studies have examined the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (Shulman, 1987) of science and T&E educators, but none have examined the science PCK of T&E educators. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of the relationship between T&E educator’s science and T&E preparation experiences, and their teaching of science content and practices. This study, which employed a fully integrated mixed methods design (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2006), was conducted to inform the pre- and in-service preparation needs for T&E educators. A random sample of 55 Foundations of Technology (FoT) teachers across 12 school systems within one state participated in an online survey, leading to eight teachers being purposefully selected for classroom observations. Data collected from the surveys and classroom observations were analyzed through Spearman’s rho tests to examine relationships between preparation factors and teaching of science content and practices. These data were corroborated with curriculum content analyses, classroom observations, and interview responses to validate the results. Analyses of the data across all three methods revealed significant correlations between many preparation factors and the teaching of science content and practices. Specifically the amount of high school and undergraduate physics courses, and T&E and science in-service delivered were found to have statistically significant, strong positive correlations. These findings suggest T&E educators with increased amounts of these preparation experiences can be expected to teach science content and practices more proficiently. The findings and conclusions drawn from the data analyses provide implications for science and T&E educators, researchers, preservice programs, and in-service professional development efforts. The discussion and implications suggest the need to conduct replication studies in different contexts. / Ph. D.

<div>Although design is part of everyday experience, increased proficiency in managing and reflecting while designing signify greater proficiency as a designer. This capacity for regulation in design is crucial for learning, including from failure experiences, while designing. Failure and iteration are integral parts of design, with potential cognitive and psychological ramifications. On the one hand, failure can be framed as a learning experience that interrupts thinking and evokes reflection. On the other hand, it can be detrimental for confidence and motivation or derail the design process. Based on similarities between design and self-regulation, I articulate a framework whereby responses to failure might be regulated by beginning designers. Then, this case study applies the framework to describe the experiences and perspectives of beginning designers as they work and fail, illuminating issues of failure in design and the extent of their self-regulation.</div><div><br></div><div>The in situ design processes of four teams was examined to describe self-regulation strategies among student designers. Analysis was conducted with two methods: linkography and typological thematic analysis. Linkography, based on think-aloud data, provided a visual representation of the design process and tools to identify reflection, planning, and critical moments in the design process. Typological analysis, based on think-aloud data, follow-up interviews, and design journals, was used to investigate specific strategies of self-regulation. The complementary methods contribute to understanding beginning designers’ self-regulation from multiple perspectives.</div><div><br></div><div>Results portray varied trajectories in design, ranging from repeated failure and determination to fleeting success and satisfaction. Class structures emerge in designers’ patterns of planning and reflection. These highlight the contextualized and evolutionary nature of design and self-regulation. Furthermore, linkographic evidence showed a beginning sense-making process, followed by oscillating phases of forward and backward thinking, to various degrees. Moments of testing, both successes and failure, were critically connected in the design process.</div><div><br></div><div>Thematic analysis identified 10 themes, aligning with the self-regulatory phases of forethought, performance, and reflection. The themes highlight how regulation in forethought is used to shape performance based on past iterations; meanwhile, the identification and attribution of failures relays information on how, and whether to iterate. Collectively, thematic findings reinforce the cyclical nature of design and self-regulation.</div><div><br></div><div>Design and self-regulation are compatible ways of thinking; for designers, the juxtaposition of these concepts may be useful to inform patterns of navigating the problem-solving process. For educators, the imposition of classroom structures in design and self-regulatory thinking draws attention to instructional design and assessment for supporting student thinking. And for researchers of design or self-regulation, these methods can give confidence for further exploration.</div>

Attempts to improve retention, interest, and enrollment of females in Technology & Engineering Education courses have included a variety of approaches including female-only classes. However, the implications of such courses have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, an investigation of female-only classes was undertaken; the findings revealed that the overall enrollment of females went up in the course and in subsequent classes, these students maintained their interests and attitudes towards Technology and Engineering, their perceptions of an engineer's gender changed from that of mostly male to mostly female, and their concepts of what an engineer does changed from mostly building or fixing things to that of mostly someone who designs. This study used two instruments: the Technology Engineering Attitude Survey (TEAS) and the Draw an Engineer Test (DAET). The population of the study was 7th grade middle school students. They were placed into two groups: the control being the mixed male female engineering and technology classes, and the treatment being the all-female students enrolled in the same engineering technology course.