Learning Goals
The MWM materials were designed to address two complementary sets of goals for student achievement. One set of goals addresses content while the other targets skills. More specifically, the content goals target the science and technology/engineering principles. The process goals focus on the skills associated with thinking like a scientist, technologist, or an engineer. Together, these two sets of goals informed and guided the design of the activities that students performed in each module.
The content goals for the program are as follows:
- Learn scientific and mathematical principles by applying them to solve real- world problems
- Develop an understanding of the science and engineering of materials by applying knowledge from physical, life, and earth sciences to create materials for specific purposes
- Learn about the interrelationship between science and technology and their influences on local, national, and global environments
- Understand contemporary problems in society, including problems of personal and community health, natural resources, environmental quality, and human-induced hazards and appreciate the use of science and technology to meet these challenges
- View the history and nature of science as a human endeavor, producing new knowledge, supported by developing technology
The process goals for the modules are listed below.
- Ask and refine researchable, productive questions
- Plan and conduct a quantitative, hands-on laboratory investigation, using journals to guide investigation and record progress
- Work within a collaborative team to complete a design project
- Develop solutions through iterative design: challenge, problem definition comparing options, implementation, reflection, and redesign
- Develop a designer’s eye to analyze trade-offs and decisions an engineer may encounter in creating artifacts
Pedagogical Principles
Each module in the series has three basic elements. First, instruction is initiated with an opening activity that is designed to create interest in the topic at hand. The introductory activity also requires the students to formulate a hypothesis about a cause and effect relationship related to the topic in question. Second, the introduction is followed by four or five hands-on learning activities that introduce the students to key principles, ideas, and methods related to the topic under study. Students conduct these activities in the context of one or more design problems. Lastly, each module culminates in a design project that requires the development of a prototype product as well as the application of the key materials science concepts and skills.
The contents and the design of the materials suggest the authors were attentive to the need for scaffolding, continuity, and coherence. All the modules clearly start with something relatively simple and they progress to more complex concepts and tasks in a very incremental and deliberate manner. Furthermore, each lesson features a series of modest narratives that link it to the previous lesson, describes how it connects to the next lesson, and ultimately how it applies to the culminating design problem.
Each module features a series of lessons that model basic pedagogical principles. More specifically, the lessons include clearly defined objectives, interest building strategies for initiating instruction, brief overviews, sequential learning activities, potential multidisciplinary connections, strategically placed reviews, ways for engaging students in reflection and lastly, strategies for assimilating content.
A Socratic approach to teaching and learning underpins the lesson instruction and students’ learning activities. Questions can be found throughout the materials and they play prominent roles initiating lessons, exploring examples, guiding investigations, reviewing results, identifying applications, informing design projects, and checking for understanding.