Adapting Engineering Education to Resource-Constrained Middle Schools: Teaching Methodologies and Computing Technologies

Abstract

Middle school students are at a critical age where exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields can greatly impact their career goals. Unlike other STEM fields, many schools do not have the expertise or resources needed to acquire and utilize existing engineering education platforms. Thus, we have begun to investigate how to adapt proven interactive project-based learning techniques for resource-constrained middle school environments as well as evaluate interactive platforms or platform characteristics that can be adapted to ensure greater accessibility of these materials.