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Engineers in the Classroom: Their Influence on African-American Students' Perceptions of Engineering

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Title: Engineers in the Classroom: Their Influence on African-American Students' Perceptions of Engineering
Language: English
Authors: Thompson, Stephen, Lyons, J
Source: School Science and Mathematics. May 2008 108(5):197-210.
Availability: School Science and Mathematics Association. Oklahoma State University, 245 Willard, Stillwater, OK 74078. Tel: 405-744-8018; Fax: 405-744-6290; e-mail: office@ssma.org; Web site: http://ssmj.tamu.edu
Peer Reviewed: Y
Physical Description: PDF
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2008
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Elementary Secondary Education
Grade 6
Descriptors: Building Trades, Student Attitudes, Scoring, Engineering, Grade 6, African American Students, Matched Groups, Career Exploration, Career Awareness, Tests
ISSN: 0036-6803
Abstract: A Draw an Engineer Test was used to capture the perceptions of engineering held by two similar groups of 6th grade African-American students. Forty-four students who had graduate level engineers in their classrooms during a prior school year as part of a GK-12 project were matched to 44 students who had not. Matching criteria included race, gender, and academic standing. Using perceptions of common engineering artifacts, fields, tasks and processes as measures, student perceptions were quantified using a Draw an Engineer Test Scoring Guide. Additional descriptive analysis was also conducted. Control group students' perceptions centered on engineering as physical work and portrayed engineers primarily in construction or building trades. Experimental group students were more likely to perceive engineering as involving mental tasks such as designing, presenting and experimenting. Experimental group students also displayed greater awareness and understanding of various engineering fields.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2008
Access URL: https://ssmj.tamu.edu/abstract/abstract_may_2008.php
Accession Number: EJ800897
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0032803156;ssm01may.08;2019Jun04.10:24;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0032803156-1">Engineers in the Classroom: Their Influence on African-American Students' Perceptions of Engineering. </title> <p>A Draw an Engineer Test was used to capture the perceptions of engineering held by two similar groups of 6th grade African‐American students. Forty‐four students who had graduate level engineers in their classrooms during a prior school year as part of a GK‐12 project were matched to 44 students who had not. Matching criteria included race, gender, and academic standing. Using perceptions of common engineering artifacts, fields, tasks and processes as measures, student perceptions were quantified using a Draw an Engineer Test Scoring Guide. Additional descriptive analysis was also conducted. Control group students' perceptions centered on engineering as physical work and portrayed engineers primarily in construction or building trades. Experimental group students were more likely to perceive engineering as involving mental tasks such as designing, presenting and experimenting. Experimental group students also displayed greater awareness and understanding of various engineering fields.</p> <p> <emph>"Sometimes engineers build things, sometimes they create things. They try to make things, I guess, make them easier for everyone else. Engineers are people who help other people."</emph> </p> <p>This sixth grade African‐American student held fairly accurate perceptions of engineering work. Her notions were especially unusual when one considers that most people, adults included, hold inaccurate ideas about what engineers do ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref1">11</reflink>]). The perceptions people hold matter. Some have suggested attitudes towards careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines are related to perceptions of those working in these fields. [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref2">13</reflink>] asserted that perceptions of scientists are one aspect of attitudes toward science and may impact an individuals' attention to the study of related disciplines. [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref3">10</reflink>] determined that individuals who hold negative perceptions of science or scientists are unlikely to pursue science courses of study or science‐related careers. Perceptions also influence students' selection of academic coursework throughout schooling, having a direct impact on career opportunities ([<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref4">25</reflink>]). Perceptions that are developed in elementary school then, are likely to result in fewer citizens opting for STEM careers.</p> <p>For the past thirty years major stakeholders have used a variety of strategies designed to increase participation in engineering careers. Estimates show new jobs and occupations in engineering fields continuing to outpace the number of United States citizens choosing careers in these fields ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref5">24</reflink>]). Despite some success, the participation of African‐Americans in engineering fields is still far below their representation within the general population ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref6">20</reflink>]). Further, since 1993 the percentage of African‐Americans obtaining degrees in engineering disciplines has declined. Having the sizeable African‐American population disinterested in engineering careers is an issue of critical importance at a time when we are not producing enough engineers to support our growing dependence on advanced technologies.</p> <p>Even though African‐American students' lack of involvement in engineering fields is well documented ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref7">20</reflink>]), few studies have attempted to capture their perceptions of engineering or determine how those perceptions might be positively altered. Addressing both of these issues, this article reports a study of the perceptions of engineering held by a group of African‐American sixth grade students. It also examines the effects on those perceptions of a collaboration that partnered graduate engineering students from a local university with classroom teachers.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-2">Engineering Fellows Project</hd> <p>In 1999 the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated the Graduate Teaching Fellows in K‐12 Education (GK‐12) program. GK‐12 employs STEM graduate students, as resources for K‐12 science and mathematics teachers. Since its inception, the NSF has provided over 250 million dollars to sponsor approximately 200 university‐based GK‐12 projects across the country that have foci which vary from Marine Science in Rhode Island to community‐based projects in Idaho ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref8">26</reflink>]).</p> <p>The exact nature and scope of GK‐12 projects are determined by individual principle investigators; however most follow one of two implementation models ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref9">17</reflink>]). Some projects use an "Exposition Model" in which Graduate Teaching Fellows do presentations in many schools or districts. Other projects follow a "Classroom Immersion Model" where the Teaching Fellow works directly with one or two classroom teachers and their students over an extended period of time. This study focuses on one GK‐12 project that followed a Classroom Immersion model, the Engineering Fellows Program.</p> <p>The Engineering Fellows Program partnered graduate engineering students (Fellows) with upper elementary and middle school science teachers in yearlong collaborations. Fellows worked 1 to 2 days each week in the classroom helping their partner teachers. They also took an education course each semester designed to support their work with children in schools. Although their roles varied, the majority of the Fellows' activities focused on classroom‐based activities such as the planning and implementation of STEM‐related lessons, research presentations, and resource gathering.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-3">The Study</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0032803156-4">Subjects</hd> <p>This study involved eighty‐eight African‐American sixth grade students (46 female, 42 male) from an urban middle school in the southeast. Although socioeconomic data for study participants were not available, approximately 87% of the school population received free or reduced lunch. The school also had a history of low performance as measured by students' standardized test data. The students were divided into two groups. Forty‐four who had participated in the Engineering Fellows Program previously, 38 the prior school year and 6 two years prior to the study, were defined as the experimental group. No attempt was made to differentiate when the students had their previous experience with the Engineering Fellows Program. These students were matched to a control group of 44 students who had never participated in the Engineering Fellows Program. Matching criteria included race, gender, and academic standing.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-5">Draw‐an‐Engineer‐Test</hd> <p>Drawings by children have been used to capture understandings and perceptions in many settings and fields that are otherwise difficult to ascertain ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref10">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref11">5</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref12">15</reflink>]). The act of drawing is believed to provide a supplemental way for students to communicate thinking ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref13">18</reflink>]). As [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref14">22</reflink>] argued, information is coded and represented both visually and verbally in memory. By pictorially transforming memory, the student is able to represent understanding in a personally meaningful way ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref15">16</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref16">28</reflink>])</p> <p>One of the most well known uses of drawings to determine student perceptions, the Draw‐a‐Scientist‐Test (DAST), requires students to draw their idea of a scientist on a piece of paper ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref17">3</reflink>]). Based on their representations, Chambers was able to make claims about students' perceptions of scientists and science. Additional work in this area led to the development of a Draw‐a‐Scientist‐Test‐Checklist ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref18">8</reflink>]), which provided researchers with an instrument that quantifies these images and allows for statistical analysis and comparisons. Since its development, the DAST has been used with a wide range of students ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref19">9</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref20">29</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref21">30</reflink>]), as well as both preservice ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref22">19</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref23">27</reflink>]) and inservice teachers ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref24">7</reflink>]), and has gained acceptance as a valid and reliable tool for measuring perceptions of science and scientists.</p> <p>Recent research within the K‐12 engineering education community has centered on developing similar methods to measure students' perceptions of engineering and engineers. One of the primary outcomes of these efforts was the Draw‐an‐Engineer‐Test (DAET), which uses drawings and prompt responses to capture students' images of engineering and engineers ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref25">14</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref26">32</reflink>]). These DAET studies focused on students' responses to two questions "What does an engineer do?" and to "Draw a picture of an engineer at work". During field testing of this DAET instrument as part of data collection related to this GK‐12 project, many students responded to the first question by providing information that had little to do with the work of engineers. Instead these responses focused on things common to many fields such as "study a lot" or things an engineer might do in his/her personal life such as "read a book". In an effort to more deeply probe students' perceptions of engineering, the researcher reversed the order of these prompts and reworded the second to say, "Describe what is happening in your picture." This revised prompt focused respondents' attention specifically on their engineer drawings and the action taking place in them. Although this altered the original DAET design, it did so in a manner that did not mutate the intent of the instrument while allowing the researchers to obtain more focused responses.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-6">Development of the DAET Scoring Guide</hd> <p>Using common engineering artifacts, fields, tasks and processes as indicators, the researcher developed a numerical coding system to measure perceptions of engineering called the Draw an Engineer Test Scoring Guide (DAET Scoring Guide). To create the DAET Scoring Guide, a content analysis was completed on DAET completed by 12 graduate engineering students. Consultations with engineers and the engineering graduate students focused on this content analysis led to the identification of major engineering features within four thematic groups: "Engineering Artifacts,""Diversity of Fields,""Engineering Processes," and "Portrayals of Engineering." A series of scoring trials and consultation sessions focused on refinement of the instrument were then completed.</p> <p>To determine initial validity of the DAET Scoring Guide two trained raters used the instrument to score DAET completed by graduate level engineering students. Based on the notions that advanced graduate engineering students have accurate perceptions of engineering and the DAET Scoring Guide is an accurate tool to measure perceptions of engineering, high scores from these engineering students indicated that the DAET Scoring Guide was a valid instrument for measuring perceptions of engineering.</p> <p>Trained raters, graduate students from a variety of engineering disciplines, also used the DAET Scoring Guide to score hundreds of students' DAET. Throughout their preparation as raters, and while they completed the scoring of the DAET samples, the engineering students helped to refine and further establish the validity of the DAET Scoring Guide.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-7">Research Design</hd> <p>This study sought to answer these specific questions:</p> <p>Does participation in the Engineering Fellows Program influence African‐American students' perceptions of engineering?</p> <p>In what ways does participation in the Engineering Fellows Program influence African‐American students' perceptions of engineering?</p> <p>A mixed method research design was employed in the study ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref27">12</reflink>]). Drawings and writings were collected from all subjects while interviews were conducted with a subset. Initial analysis of the drawings informed the development of the interview questions and protocol. In this way the researchers were able to discuss emerging issues directly, tap into participants' perspectives, and expand understanding of the phenomenon being studied ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref28">21</reflink>]). This process also allowed findings to be corroborated across different approaches, leading to greater confidence in the conclusions reached.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-8">Data Collection</hd> <p>Students completed the DAET, which asked them to "Draw a picture of an engineer working," and "Describe what is happening in your picture." If students didn't know what an engineer did, they were told to write, "I don't know" on the paper and draw anything they liked. Ten randomly selected students from each group participated in follow‐up semi‐structured interviews focused on their perceptions of engineering (see Appendix A for interview questions).</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-9">Analysis of Drawings</hd> <p>The DAET Scoring Guide allocates points within four thematic categories. Drawings including the text, "I don't know" were assigned zero scores in each category and were not used in any further data analysis. Table 1 shows the criteria used to determine point totals for each thematic group (maximum possible score 10).</p> <p>Three trained raters each scored the 88 student DAET. Inter‐rater reliability estimates were determined and found to be sufficiently high:.88946 (Engineering Artifacts and Diversity of Fields),.94564 (Engineering Processes), and.95114 (Engineering Portrayals). The mean of the raters' scores were determined and used in paired samples t‐test calculations. Additional analysis focused on providing a rich description of between group differences was also completed.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-10">Findings and Discussion</hd> <p> <emph>Does participation in the Engineering Fellows Program influence African‐American students' perceptions of engineering?</emph> </p> <p>Differences in the total mean DAET Scoring Guide scores of these two groups were found to be substantive (see Table 2). A paired samples t‐test was conducted and a statistically significant difference was found between the Total mean scores of the experimental and control groups, <emph>t</emph> (<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref29">43</reflink>)=5.974, p, <.005. Using Cohen's D (.971), the Total effect size was found to be strong, demonstrating a clear difference in the overall perceptions of engineering held by these two groups.</p> <p>2 DAET Scoring Guide Mean Summary</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th>Category</th><th align="center">Experimental group M/(SD)</th><th align="center">Control group M/(SD)</th><th align="center">Mean difference</th><th align="center">Standard error mean</th></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td>Artifacts</td><td>.92/(.419)</td><td>.66/(.485)</td><td>.264</td><td>.085</td></tr><tr><td>Fields</td><td>.82/(.90)</td><td>.48/(.490)</td><td>.333</td><td>.093</td></tr><tr><td>Processes</td><td>1.07/(.685)</td><td>.66/(.501)</td><td>.409</td><td>.096</td></tr><tr><td>Portrayals</td><td>1.75/(.887)</td><td>1.49/(.699)</td><td>.258</td><td>.106</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>4.44/(1.339)</td><td>3.25/(1.100)</td><td>1.196</td><td>.200</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Interview data indicated that participation in the Engineering Fellows Program was a factor that influenced students' perceptions of engineering. Six out of the ten experimental group students interviewed attributed some aspect of their engineering perceptions to previous involvement with a Fellow. In some cases students reported they got ideas from observing the Fellow during class. For example, Student 14 stated, "He (the Fellow) would use the computer to find answers to our questions or show us stuff about engineering sometimes. That's why I drew him at a computer." In other cases students got their ideas about engineering from interacting with a Fellow. Student 71 discussed this notion during his interview, "Because my old engineer, we always talked about it (rockets). He worked with rockets like that and we always talked about rockets and that's where I got the idea for the drawing."</p> <p>On the other hand, control group students who were interviewed attributed their engineering perceptions to two sources, parents and television shows. Four of the 10 control group students discussed their fathers working on cars when responding to the same question. For example Student 7 stated, "My dad he works in a garage. I heard my mom call him an engineer one time, so I was just like OK maybe that is an engineer." Two of the 10 students noted the influence of television as shown in this representative quote from student 45, "I got my idea from a TV show, 'Pimp my Ride.' The engineers on the show take old cars and fix them up."</p> <p> <emph>In what ways does participation in the Engineering Fellows Program influence African‐American students' perceptions of engineering?</emph> </p> <p> <emph>Artifacts</emph>. This DAET Scoring Guide category awarded some credit for artifacts that an engineer might use occasionally, such as a hammer to build a physical model. However, it awarded greater credit for artifacts an engineer would more commonly use such as artifacts associated with designing, presenting or experimenting. Table 2 summarizes the Artifact means scores for each group. A paired samples t‐test revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the comparison groups, <emph>t</emph> (<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref30">43</reflink>)=3.096, p, <.005. Cohen's <emph>d</emph> (.573) indicated a moderate effect size.</p> <p>Further examination of the artifacts in students' DAET provided insight into their perceptions of typical engineering tasks. For example, Table 3 shows that the most common control group artifacts were those associated with mechanical or repair trades, with engineers mainly working on engines and cars. A large number of artifacts associated with building or construction trades were also found. In these DAET, engineers primarily used these artifacts to build or repair structures and machines.</p> <p>3 DAET Artifacts</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th align="center">Control</th><th /><th align="center">Experimental</th><th /></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td align="center">Artifact</td><td>F/(P)</td><td align="center">Artifact</td><td>F/(P)</td></tr><tr><td>Tool (hammer, screw driver, etc.)</td><td>22/(.50)</td><td>Model/blueprint/diagram</td><td>6/(.14)</td></tr><tr><td>Car/bus/engine*</td><td>19/(.43)</td><td>Test tubes/beakers/etc.</td><td>6/(.14)</td></tr><tr><td>Structure/house*</td><td>8/(.18)</td><td>Computer (as "tool")</td><td>5/(.11)</td></tr><tr><td>Train*</td><td>5/(.11)</td><td>Tool (hammer, screw driver, etc.)</td><td>5/(.11)</td></tr><tr><td>Construction equipment</td><td>4/(.08)</td><td>Car/bus/engine*</td><td>5/(.11)</td></tr><tr><td>Test tubes/beakers/etc.</td><td>1/(.02)</td><td>Generators/wires/etc.</td><td>4/(.08)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>Formulas</td><td>3/(.08)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>Clipboard</td><td>2/(.05)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>Rocket*</td><td>2/(.05)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>House*</td><td>2/(.05)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>Train*</td><td>2/(.05)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>Plane*</td><td>2/(.05)</td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td>Computer*</td><td>1/(.02)</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>1 Note. * Denotes object of work, F = frequency, P = percentage</p> <p>On the other hand, DAET from the experimental group contained greater numbers of design, experimentation, and presentation artifacts. Students were more likely to describe and/or show engineers using these artifacts to create products, present information, or share ideas. Finally, experimental group students included more artifacts and references associated with "experimentation" in engineering work. Figure 1 is a DAET from this group that captures the experimentation theme related to this category.</p> <p>1 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "My drawing is an engineer that is a water specialist. They use test tubes, heaters, and beakers. Water specialist test water to make sure it is healthy to drink and use."</p> <p> <emph>Fields</emph>. Differences in group mean scores for this category summarized in Table 2 revealed that experimental group students represented a wider range of engineering fields than their control group counterparts. A paired samples t‐test confirmed that this difference was statistically significant, <emph>t</emph> (<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref31">43</reflink>)=3.569, <emph>p</emph><.001. Cohen's <emph>d</emph> (.768) indicated a moderate effect size.</p> <p>Further analysis confirmed that experimental group students were more likely to understand that the term engineering encompasses many fields and careers. For example, experimental group students referenced six different engineering fields (Civil, Electrical, Chemical, Genetic, Mechanical and Nuclear). Further, 7 of the 10 interviewed students from this group referenced two or more fields of engineering. While student references were sometimes lacking a proper name, they communicated understanding that engineering encompasses a wide range of fields and career possibilities. This interview quote, from Student 11 in the experimental group, captures this notion, "There are different types of engineers. Some work in medical fields, like genetic engineers and there's engineers that fix streetlights. There're also engineers that design roads. That's all I know."</p> <p>Experimental group students were also more likely to accurately portray the work of engineers in these fields. For example, almost half of the experimental group students' DAET contained representations of engineers engaged in tasks associated with a single engineering field. Figure 2, a DAET of electrical engineers fixing a power line, is provided as a representative sample.</p> <p>2 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "The picture above are engineers working with electricity. Engineers that work with electricity are called electricians. Electricians work in different places and different jobs, like SC and G for example."</p> <p>On the other hand, control group students displayed knowledge of few engineering fields. A total of two engineering fields (Mechanical and Electrical) were referenced on students' DAET and only two students named more than one engineering field. During interviews control group students described engineering fields associated with machine, construction, and repair industries. This was consistent with their DAET representations which primarily focused on Mechanical or Civil engineering fields, mainly portraying engineers in construction or automotive careers. Figure 3 is a control students' DAET that highlights the notion of engineer as auto mechanic.</p> <p>3 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "This is Jake. Jake is about to work on a broke car."</p> <p> <emph>Processes</emph>. A substantial mean difference between groups in terms of engineering processes was also found (see Table 2) and determined to be statistically significant, <emph>t</emph> (<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref32">43</reflink>) = 4.251, p<.000. Cohen's <emph>d</emph> (.683) indicated a moderate effect size, signifying experimental students better understood the integral role mental processes play in engineering work while control group students were more likely to focus on physical processes.</p> <p>An examination of the verbs used on students' DAET to describe engineering work supported this finding. Table 4 highlights that both groups were most likely to use the verb "fixing" to describe what the engineers were doing.</p> <p>4 Verbs Used to Describe Engineering Work</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th align="center">Control Group</th><th /><th align="center">Experimental Group</th><th /></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td align="center">Verb</td><td>F/(P)</td><td align="center">Verb</td><td>F/(P)</td></tr><tr><td>Fix</td><td>13/(.30)</td><td>Fix</td><td>10/(.23)</td></tr><tr><td>Build, make</td><td>9/(.20)</td><td>Test, experiment, research, study</td><td>7/(.16)</td></tr><tr><td>Drive, operate</td><td>7/(.16)</td><td>Design, redesign</td><td>5/(.11)</td></tr><tr><td>Tell</td><td>2/(.05)</td><td>Present, show, tell</td><td>5/(.11)</td></tr><tr><td>Find solution</td><td>1/(.02)</td><td>Invent</td><td>3/(.07)</td></tr><tr><td>Screw</td><td>1/(.02)</td><td>Build, make</td><td>3/(.07)</td></tr><tr><td>Hammer</td><td>1/(.02)</td><td>"See"/"come up with" (determine)</td><td>3/(.07)</td></tr><tr><td>Mix</td><td>1/(.02)</td><td>Paint</td><td>2/(.05)</td></tr><tr><td>Install</td><td>1/(.02)</td><td /><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>However, it appeared that an engineer fixing meant different things to these two groups. For example, 5 of the 7 experimental students who used the term during interviews focused on cognitive dimensions of engineering and portrayed fixing as mental work. These students were much more likely to focused on the "how to" component of fixing as captured by this interview quote from Student 11, "Well these are engineers and they're studying what went wrong with this rocket, things that need fixing on the rocket."</p> <p>On the other hand, 5 control group students also mentioned fixing during interviews. However, these students focused on the applied dimension, portraying the fixing that was done by engineers as physical work. These students focused on the "doing" component of fixing. Student 43 summarized this notion in his representative quote, "The engineer is fixing the roof. He is using a hammer to repair the holes in it."</p> <p>A comparison of the other verbs used most frequently on students' DAET showed additional between group differences. Experimental students were more likely to use verbs associated with mental work such as "testing,""researching," or "inventing." Conversely, control group students were more likely to use verbs associated with physical work such as "building" or "driving."</p> <p> <emph>Portrayals</emph>. The Portrayal category was designed to give credit to students who made distinctions between the various types of mental work completed by engineers. For example, some engineers are technicians. However, technical work does not require the same cognitive and creative demands as the work of design engineers. Students who displayed more complete understanding of the connections between these higher cognitive demands and engineering earned higher scores in this category.</p> <p>As with the other DAET Scoring Guide categories, analysis showed a substantial mean difference between groups within this category (see Table 2). A paired samples t‐test revealed that these differences were statistically significant, <emph>t</emph> (<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref33">43</reflink>) = 2.429, <emph>p</emph> <.019. Cohen's <emph>d</emph> (.331) indicated a moderate effect size.</p> <p>The control group mean for this category indicated that these students were more likely to portray engineers as builders, repairmen, or technicians, with the most common portrayal being that of engineer as auto repairman. Although these students mainly portrayed engineers as auto repairmen, there was little emphasis on problem diagnosis. Control group students were more likely to describe the tools the engineer would use or the action of the engineer. The second most common portrayal was the engineer as construction worker. Figures 4 and 5 are representative DAET that capture these themes.</p> <ulist> <item>4 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "He is a man who works with tools and works on cars. He does a lot of things with cars."</item> <item>5 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "This is a engineer that is putting a roof in for a new house."</item> </ulist> <p>The experimental group mean for this same category indicated that these students were more likely to portray engineers as inventors, designers, or problemsolvers. The most common portrayal within this group was the engineer as technician. The fields and settings varied, but in these portrayals the emphasis was on the engineer diagnosing a problem and fixing it using a "known" solution. The next most frequent portrayal was the engineer as inventor or problem‐solver. In these representations the engineers worked to create an original solution or diagnose an unknown problem. Figures 6 and 7 are representative DAET that capture these themes.</p> <ulist> <item>6 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "The engineers are seeing what made the rocket fall when it first took off. The woman is the approver and she tells the other engineers who to redesign the Palmetto."</item> <item>7 Experimental student DAET. Caption reads, "In the picture is the inventor trying to come up with a solution to make some new hair shampoo."</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0032803156-11">Summary</hd> <p>Involvement in the Engineering Fellows program significantly influenced students' perceptions of engineering. Experimental students better understood the types of tools and equipment used by engineers, the diversity of fields represented by the term engineering, and the work typically done within engineering fields. Experimental students also held more complete ideas about the importance of mental work, rather than physical labor, in engineering. More importantly, they moved away from the perception that an engineer is a builder and towards a more accurate perception that an engineer is a designer or problem‐solver.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-12">Discussion</hd> <p>The results discussed here indicate that GK‐12‐like collaborations with engineers positively influenced African‐American students' perceptions of engineering. The author makes no claims that participation in the Engineering Fellows Program improved student understanding of "how to do" engineering. However, claims can be made that project involvement helped a group of African‐American students improve their perceptions of the types of things engineers do as a part of their work.</p> <p>As was mentioned earlier, it is generally agreed that perceptions matter; they influence attitudes toward, and a willingness to engage in, engineering related activities. Ultimately perceptions affect career options, currently contributing to significant shortages in the engineering work force and inaccurate perceptions of these fields. There is a clearly documented need to increase African‐American participation in engineering disciplines. The first steps toward increased participation are to inform students about engineering disciplines and reduce inaccurate perceptions related to these fields. Programs like the Engineering Fellows Program demonstrate the potential to address both of these critical needs.</p> <p>This study has some limitations to consider. It focused on one program and was completed at one site with a small number of students. At the same time, the program provided opportunities to examine the influence of strategies that seem to mediate inaccurate perceptions held by students. One such strategy is exposure to practitioner role models ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref34">1</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref35">2</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref36">8</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref37">31</reflink>]). However, as [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref38">6</reflink>] pointed out a one‐shot role model doesn't provide lasting change in perception; exposure must be well planned, occurring over some extended time. Other studies point to the value of exposure to scientists <emph>in the classroom</emph> on student perceptions and student self‐efficacy towards science‐related careers ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref39">8</reflink>]).</p> <p>The NSF GK‐12 programs are one method through which extended collaborations within the school context are being promoted. The Engineering Fellows Program placed engineers in classrooms for an entire school year following a carefully planned formula. The results of this effort support the positive influence of a practitioner role model, over an extended period of time, on student perceptions. The findings reported here also indicate that GK‐12 can have a positive impact on students, which serves as important data for others working to create this type of initiative.</p> <hd id="AN0032803156-13">Appendix Student Interview Questions</hd> <p>Tell me about your drawing of an engineer?</p> <p>Why did you choose the equipment in the picture?</p> <p>Why did you include × piece of equipment?</p> <p>Why was it important?</p> <p>What is the engineering doing in the picture?</p> <p>Is this what all engineers do? (What else can they do?)</p> <p>Where did you get the idea for this picture?</p> <p>What kinds of people are engineers?</p> <p>Can anybody be an engineer? Explain.</p> <p>Experimental Students Only:</p> <p>Tell me about the Engineering Fellow who worked in your class.</p> <p>What kinds of things did he/she do?</p> <p>What was the best thing you remember about him/her?</p> <ref id="AN0032803156-14"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref34" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Bodzin, A., & Gehringer, M. (2001). Breaking science stereotypes. Science and Children, 39 (1), 3 – 1.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref35" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Bohrmann, M. L., & Akerson, V. L. (2001). A teacher's reflections on her actions to improve her female students' self‐efficacy toward science. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 13 (2), 4 – 5.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref17" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Chambers, D. (1983). Stereotypic images of the scientists: The Draw‐a‐Scientist Test. 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Comparing science teaching styles to students' perceptions of scientists. School Science and Mathematics, 106, 8 – 15.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib8" idref="ref18" type="bt">8</bibl> <bibtext> Finson, K. D., Beaver, J. B., & Cramond, B. L. (1995). Development and field test of a checklist for the Draw‐a‐Scientist‐Test. School Science and Mathematics, 95, 19 – 05.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib9" idref="ref19" type="bt">9</bibl> <bibtext> Fort, D. C., & H. L. Varney. (1989). How students see scientists: Mostly male, mostly white and mostly benevolent. Science and Children, 26 (8), 8 – 13.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hammrick, P. L. (1997). Confronting the gender gap in science and mathematics: The sisters in science program. (Report No.SE059829). Oakbrook, IL : National Association for Research in Science Teaching. (Eric Document and Reproduction Service No. ED406167).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Harris, L. (1998, September). American perspectives on engineers and engineering. Retrieved June 6, 2006, from <ulink href="http://www.nae.edu/NAE/naehome.nsf/weblinks/NAEW‐4NHMEX?OpenDocument">http://www.nae.edu/NAE/naehome.nsf/weblinks/NAEW‐4NHMEX?OpenDocument</ulink>.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed method research: A research design whose time has come. Educational Researcher, 33 (7), 1 – 6.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Kahle, J. B. (1998). Images of science: The physicist and the cowboy. In B. J. Fraser & G. J. Giddings (Eds.), Gender issues in science education. [Monograph in the faculty of Education Research Seminar Series] Australia : Curtin University of Technology.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Knight, M., & Cunningham, C. (2004). Draw an engineer test (DAET): Development of a tool to investigate students' ideas about engineers and engineering. Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education 2005 conference. Retrieved June 6, 2005, from <ulink href="http://www.asee.org/about/events/conferences/search.cfm">http://www.asee.org/about/events/conferences/search.cfm</ulink>.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Lourdes, D. (2002). Young bilingual children's perceptions of bilingualism and biliteracy: Altruistic possibilities. Bilingual Research Journal, 26, 59 – 10.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Merrill, M. D. (1983). Component display theory. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional theories and models: An overview of their current status (pp. 27 – 33). Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Mitchell, J., Levine, R., Gonzalez, R., Bitter, C., Webb, N., & White, P. (2003, April). Evaluation of the national science foundation graduate teaching fellows in K‐12 education (GK‐12) program. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association, Chicago.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Moline, S. (1995). I see what you mean. Children at work with visual information. York, ME : Stenhouse Publishers.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Moseley, C., & Norris, D. (1999). Preservice teachers views of scientists. Science and Children, 37 (6), 5 – 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (2005). Forging partnerships, sharing goals: Meeting America's need for engineering talent: Data book, Raytheon Special Symposium, Retrieved January 23, 2006, from <ulink href="http://www.nacme.org/pdf/data‐book.pdf">http://www.nacme.org/pdf/data‐book.pdf</ulink>.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Leech, N. L. (2004, February). Enhancing the interpretation of significant findings: The role of mixed methods research. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Educational Research Association, Clearwater, FL.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Pavio, A. (1990). Mental representations: A dual‐coding approach (2nd ed.). 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  Data: Engineers in the Classroom: Their Influence on African-American Students' Perceptions of Engineering
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Thompson%2C+Stephen%22">Thompson, Stephen</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lyons%2C+J%22">Lyons, J</searchLink>
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  Data: School Science and Mathematics Association. Oklahoma State University, 245 Willard, Stillwater, OK 74078. Tel: 405-744-8018; Fax: 405-744-6290; e-mail: office@ssma.org; Web site: http://ssmj.tamu.edu
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Building+Trades%22">Building Trades</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Attitudes%22">Student Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scoring%22">Scoring</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Engineering%22">Engineering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+6%22">Grade 6</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22African+American+Students%22">African American Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Matched+Groups%22">Matched Groups</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Career+Exploration%22">Career Exploration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Career+Awareness%22">Career Awareness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Tests%22">Tests</searchLink>
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  Data: A Draw an Engineer Test was used to capture the perceptions of engineering held by two similar groups of 6th grade African-American students. Forty-four students who had graduate level engineers in their classrooms during a prior school year as part of a GK-12 project were matched to 44 students who had not. Matching criteria included race, gender, and academic standing. Using perceptions of common engineering artifacts, fields, tasks and processes as measures, student perceptions were quantified using a Draw an Engineer Test Scoring Guide. Additional descriptive analysis was also conducted. Control group students' perceptions centered on engineering as physical work and portrayed engineers primarily in construction or building trades. Experimental group students were more likely to perceive engineering as involving mental tasks such as designing, presenting and experimenting. Experimental group students also displayed greater awareness and understanding of various engineering fields.
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