Engaging Primary Children and Pre-Service Teachers in a Whole School 'Design and Make Day': The Evaluation of a Creative Science and Technology Collaboration

Y

9

College School Cooperation; Partnerships in Education; Preservice Teachers; Elementary School Teachers; Design; Elementary School Students; STEM Education; Foreign Countries; Experiential Learning; Learning Activities; Small Group Instruction; Inquiry; Cooperative Learning; Animals; Astronomy; Program Evaluation; Attitude Measures; Program Effectiveness; Learner Engagement; Creativity; Risk

1449-6313

A pedagogical innovation was collaboratively designed, implemented and evaluated in the context of a school-university partnership. The innovation had a dual purpose: 1) to provide an opportunity for primary pre-service teachers to develop their understanding and experience of teaching "design and produce" processes (working technologically), and 2) to involve primary children in a highly engaging, meaningful learning experience with high visibility in the school's community. We decided that this could best take the form of an annual whole school "Design and Make Day" (DM Day). In this paper, we describe the context of the DM Day, spotlight three of the tasks, and share the key findings from the project evaluation.

As Provided

14

2017

EJ1142180