Kasey Mannion
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
MD

Wed, Oct 23, 2019 12:49 PM
Encourages Creativity

I appreciate how the reverse engineering process gives students the opportunity to explore engineering solutions without being given limitations or conditions- this promotes student creativity. I can imagine that giving students this freedom to creatively solve a problem would be very engaging and motivating to students. Engineering lessons are most effective when students are invested in their explorations and are excited to reach a unique solution. The reverse engineering process asks students to explore first and connect learned science concepts after the first stage of exploration. I think this process is the true reflection of an authentic engineering project. I like the graphic of the reverse engineering process and the table for student responses that are included in the article.

Wed, Oct 23, 2019 12:28 PM
Very Helpful for Planning

This article provides five optimizations for the elementary engineering design process: choosing the right design challenge, choosing testable criteria for failure and success, representing a design through a drawing or maquette, labeling and describing design plans, and exploring while designing. These optimizations are very specific and give excellent parameters for the initial stages of planning an engineering unit. After reading the article, I found that I had a clearer idea of the criteria that should be included in my own extensive engineering project that I am creating. I appreciated that the article included options for effective differentiation. I was unfamiliar with the idea of a maquette before reading the article but now I will certainly be tasking my students with creating maquette during the design process. A very helpful read!