What is engineering? — An Exploration of P-6 grade teachers’ perspectives

Age-appropriate authentic engineering problems offer educators opportunities to integrate math, science, and technology and foster higher-level learning. However, P-12 teachers typically do not have adequate access to or knowledge about engineering, which limits their ability to bring engineering into their classrooms. This study was conducted to document and analyze P-6 teachers' perceptions of engineering. As part of the pre-post assessment strategy for two different week-long INSPIRE Summer Academies (Local and National), teachers responded to two questions: "What is engineering?" and "What do engineers do?" Qualitative research methods were used to create coding schemes for the written responses to the two questions. Analysis resulted in the creation of seven main coding categories and twenty subcategories which were used to analyze teachers' responses. Findings indicate some significant differences between the two academies and changes in teachers' responses from pre to post-academy. This paper will articulate the methods used to analyze the responses and present findings from the pre and post teacher responses.