Work in progress - perceptions of education students of engineering

A chemical engineering faculty member was one of two laboratory instructors in 2005 for an elementary (K-8) education science methods course for pre-service teacher candidates. The course included undergraduate seniors in the final semester before student teaching. Both lab groups were similar in structure presenting general science activities in multiple content areas, inquiry activities and science module training and teaching. In the lab group taught by the engineer, concepts were also discussed and demonstrated through engineering specific enrichment activities and structured informal and formal discussions. These activities and the presence of an engineer was successful in improving the confidence of the pre-service teachers to understand and teach basic engineering concepts as evidenced by a survey, designed by the researchers, and in comparison to a "non engineering group." The survey also showed that the engineer was able to effectively teach the students how to teach general science concepts.