Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 667 de 957
The elementary teachers‟ PEK included two parts: the “knowing-about” part and the
“knowing-to” part. These two parts were developed in the area of EL where engineering
interacted with learners and in the area of EC where engineering teaching interacted with
classroom and school contexts. The PEK development was involved in a dynamic process
where the “knowing-about” and the “knowing-to” stimulated each other. This evolving and
dynamic process can be illustrated as is shown in Figure 2.
Conclusions and Implications
Figure 2: PEK Development
The elementary teachers in this study developed their PEK through real-world
engineering teaching. Teachers‟ PEK included both the “knowing-about” part and
“knowing-to” part in the areas of EL and EC. The development of “knowing-about” and
“knowing-to” took place in a dynamic process deeply situated in real elementary
classroom settings. The elementary teachers‟ situated and practice-based knowledge
concerning elementary engineering teaching are precious resources that can be used for
the improvement of future INSPIRE or other professional development programs in
elementary engineering education. The findings of the study suggest that a “returning,
sharing, and improving” mechanism can be adopted by professional development
programs to better prepare both in-service and pre-service elementary teachers for
elementary engineering teaching. The mechanism can work like this: Invite those who
previously attended the professional development programs and have practiced
engineering teaching in real elementary classrooms to return and share their “knowingabout”
and “knowing-to” with new participating teachers. This will help the new
participating teachers improve their engineering teaching once they start their
engineering teaching practice. Professional development faculty and organizers can
improve instruction and training materials for their future participating elementary
teachers based on the “knowing-about” and “knowing-to” gathered from their previous
participating teachers. The “knowing-about” and the “knowing-to” in the area of EC would
be especially important for professional development programs if they aim to permeate
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011