Challenges Encountered by Elementary Education Major Students When Learning Engineering

It is essential that elementary students are exposed to engineering at an early age to help build a base of knowledge on which to expand later in their schooling. With the world constantly advancing in terms of technology, elementary education (ELED) teachers are not well equipped to teach engineering to elementary students. With this in mind, for the past two decades Iowa State University has offered a course, Toying with Technology (TwT), for ELED majors, which addresses the issue at hand. The course not only teaches basic engineering through hands-on activities but also trains the students in building engineering lesson plans and teaching them to elementary students. This study gathered qualitative data by conducting focus group interviews with the students (N = 30) enrolled in the TwT course. Inferences made from the qualitative analysis will help in understanding the impact of the class on ELED students and their challenges. Modifications to the TwT course will be proposed so that future ELED students can be better taught these concepts and be comfortable teaching them to elementary students.