Enhancing Success in STEM: Spatial Visualization and Freehand Sketching with the SpatialKidsTM iPad App

Abstract WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WAPlease complete this form, save it as a PDF file only and upload it through the ASEE PaperManagement system as shown in the K12 Workshop Presenter’s Kit.All notifications will be by email from the ASEE Paper Management system.NOTE: To ensure that emails are not obstructed by spam blockers, please make sure to WHITELIST theemail addresses: monolith@asee.org and conferences@asee.org and s.harrington-hurd@asee.org.Direct questions to Stephanie Harrington-Hurd, ASEE K-12 Activities Manager, at s.harrington-hurd@asee.org. Additional workshop details are available at: http://www.asee.org/K12Workshop.Thank you! Deadline Friday, January 23, 2015 by 5:00PM EST Presenters will be notified of acceptance status by March 14. Late submissions will not be accepted. Advanced Workshop Registration will open December 6, 2013. SUBMISSION INFORMATIONProvide the first and last name of each presenter, including affiliations. If there is more than onepresenter, designate one person as the organizer and provide only that person’s contactinformation. The organizer is responsible for communicating to co-presenters.Number of Presenters: 2Presenter Name(s):1) Last Delson First Nathan Affiliation Univ. of California, San Diego2) Last Van Den Einde First Lelli Affiliation Univ. of California, San Diego3) Last First AffiliationContact Person’s Name: Nathan DelsonContact Person’s Email: ndelson@ucsd.eduContact Person’s Phone: (858) 534-0655Contact Person’s Alternate Phone: (858) 395-72202015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 1 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WAPlease provide a one-paragraph bio for each presenter (in the order listed above). The bio shouldnot exceed 70 words and should be written as you would want it to appear on the ASEE websiteand program materials.1) Nathan Delson is a Teaching Professor at UC San Diego. His interests include robotics,biomedical devices, product design, and engineering education. He is co-founder of CoactiveDrive Corporation, a company that provides force feedback solutions. Since 1999 he has taughtengineering design and been the director of the Mechanical Engineering Design center. In 2012,Dr. Delson introduced a Product Design & Entrepreneurship course, where students developtheir own product concepts.2) Van Den Einde is a Teaching Professor in Structural Engineering at UC San Diego. Sheincorporates education innovations into courses (Peer Instruction, Project-based learning),prepares next generation faculty, advises student organizations, hears cases of academicmisconduct, is responsible for ABET, and is committed to fostering a supportive environment fordiverse students. Her research focuses on engagement strategies for large classrooms anddeveloping K-16 curriculum in earthquake engineering and spatial visualization.3) WORKSHOP INFORMATIONProposed Title:Enhancing Success in STEM: Spatial Visualization and Freehand Sketching with theSpatialKids™ iPad AppAbstract: Please provide a concise description that includes the workshop’s learning objectives(maximum 750 characters). The abstract is used on the ASEE website, program materials, andotherK-12 Workshop promotional activities.Spatial Visualization (SV) is the mental representation and manipulation of 2D and 3D shapes.Skills in SV and Freehand Sketching have been correlated to success in STEM, yet SV is notformally part of K-12 curriculum. An interactive SV drawing application (SpatialKids™) gearedtowards K-8 grades has been developed at UC San Diego using touchscreen interface technologyon an iPad. In this interactive workshop, teachers will learn 1) SV skills such as 2D rotations, 3Disometric views, and 2D orthographic projections; 2) how to use the iPad app including thealgorithm that automatically grades students’ sketches and provides guidance when requested,and 3) best practices for how to implement the SV training in their curriculum.Workshop Description. Please provide a detailed description of the proposed workshop that, atminimum, explicitly addresses the following (maximum 4,000 characters):2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 2 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WA a. Learning objectives b. Hands-on activities and interactive exercises c. Materials that participants can take with them d. Practical application for teachers and outreach staffLearning objectives: In this workshop, participants will use a touchscreen device (iPad) toengage in interactive spatial visualization (SV) activities using the SpatialKids™ App developedat UC San Diego. Learning objectives for the workshop are to teach participants SV skills suchas 2D rotations, sketching of 3D isometrics and 2D orthographic projections, and flat patternfolding; how to use the iPad app including the feature that automatically grades students’sketches and provides guidance when requested; and to provide participants with best practicesfor how to implement the SV training in their own classrooms. The touchscreen technologyfacilitates an engaging and cost-effective SV training method that allows freehand sketching withnatural hand motions not possible with a computer mouse.Hands-on Activities & Interactive Exercises: Workshop participants will work directly withiPads provided by the presenters. We will walk through the various SV lessons and make use ofthe integrated tutorials and feedback system. An example of a free response exercise related tothe ability to manipulate and rotate a shape one quarter turn counterclockwise is shown in Figure1a. When a sketch is submitted for grading and there is an error in the solution, students aregiven the option to Retry the sketch, obtain a Hint (showing a video tutorial of the solutionsteps), or take a Peek at the solution and then redo the sketch. Figure 1b shows a screenshot ofthe message received once an activity containing an error in the solution has been submitted forgrading, and Figure 1c shows the type of instantaneous feedback provided when the “Peek”option is selected. In this case, green lines indicate correct portions of the sketch, red solid linesindicate areas where incorrect lines are drawn, and red-hashed lines represent areas where linesshould have been drawn but were omitted.2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 3 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WA a) 2D rotation activity b) Grading algorithm response c) Feedback during Peek Figure 1: SpatialKids™ screenshotsEach lesson in the software begins with easy problems, and gradually increments in difficulty.Thus, students are able to work independently and can use the Hint and Peek features to resolvemost problems on their own. A point system encourages students to complete assignmentswithout Hints or Peeks as they progress. At the end of each lesson a few test questions areprovided where the Hint and Peek questions have been disabled. Teachers can view eachstudent’s progress including the number of assignments completed as well as how often the Hintand Peek features have been used.Materials that participants can take with them: Workshop participants will be given a license tothe iPad App to use on their own devices. For those that do not have a classroom set of iPadsavailable at their home institutions, a web-based version is under development for use onWindows, Chrome, and Android devices. A license will be provided when it becomes available.Practical application for teachers and outreach staff: SpatialKids™ is aligned with theengineering habits of mind, as well as K-8 common core and NGSS standards (see below). Theapp can be integrated directly into math, science or engineering curriculum, or can be introducedto students through outreach events. For example, the app was incorporated into a “Girls inEngineering” day sponsored by the Stanley E. Foster School of Engineering, Innovation, andDesign in San Diego. Middle school girls were invited to explore the design process through anengineering and architecture design challenge. If they finished their designs early, they weregiven the opportunity to play with the SpatialKids™ App to test their SV skills and ultimatelyexcite them about STEM. Feedback from this event was extremely positive.Authentic Engineering Connection. Identify and describe how you will explicitly address theways in which your lesson or activity is representative of the processes, habits of mind andpractices used by engineers, or is demonstrative of work in specific engineering fields.i At least2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 4 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WAone of those must be within the first four listed, below; i.e., do not only check “other”. Check allthat apply: Use of an engineering design process that has at least one iteration/improvement Attention to specific engineering habits of mind Attention to engineering practices (as described in the NGSS/Framework and as practiced by engineers) Attention to specific engineering careers or fields related to the lesson/activity Other (please describe below)Provide a description of how you will explicitly address these aspects of authentic engineering inyour workshop (maximum 2,000 characters):Authentic Engineering: Drawing is a fundamental engineering skill that is used for conceptgeneration and sharing of ideas with others. The proverbial “back of the envelope” sketch issomething engineers do on a daily basis, and is also something that is highly engaging for youngchildren with their love of drawing. This workshop introduces students to some of the technicalaspects of engineering drawings and develops SV skills, which have been shown to help withperformance in STEM.Engineering Habits of Mind: The activities presented in this workshop are representative ofCreativity, Optimism, and Communication. Sketching is an integral part of the brainstormingand creative process. Optimism is increased when students are able to visualize design solutionsand draw how they will look. We all know that “a picture is worth 1000 words,” and thussketching is integral to technical communication.Engineering practices based on NGSS Framework: Engineering, technology and theapplication of science is one of the discipline core ideas in NGSS. The SpatialKids™ Appteaches important skills used in the engineering design process; it provides skills that enablestudents to brainstorm and sketch (in 3D) possible solutions to a problem, communicate withpeers about proposed solutions, and share ideas that lead to improved designs (e.g., 3-5-ETS1-2).Common Core: SpatialKids™ aligns with geometry standards. In particular, Kindergarten(analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes); 1st grade (build, draw and reason with shapesand their attributes), 5th grade (classify 2D figures based on properties), 6th grade (represent 3Dfigures using nets to find surface area), 7th grade (solve problems involving scaled drawings ofgeometric figures and describe 2D figures that result from slicing 3D figures), and 8th grade(understand that a 2D figure can be obtained from a sequence of rotations, reflections,translations, and dilations).2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 5 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WADiversity. This year is the American Society for Engineering Education’s “Year of Action onDiversity.” It is essential that we have a diverse engineering workforce to solve diverseproblems. To do that and to have an engineering-literate public, it is essential that we reach everypreK-12 student with high-quality engineering education, drawing on issues of access and equityin the classroom and in the curriculum. Reviewers would like to know how your proposedworkshop will address diversity.Provide a description of how you will explicitly address diversity – e.g., diversity with respect togender/sex, ethnicity or race, special education inclusion, socio-economic status, or LGBT status– in your workshop (maximum 2,000 characters):Spatial Visualization (SV) skills have been correlated with improved performance in STEM, butwomen and other underrepresented minorities (URMs) in STEM have on average lower SVskills. In fact, SV training was highlighted as an approach to increase diversity in STEM, in a2010 report “Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics”1.To address this disparity Sorby, et al.2 developed a one-credit college level course in SV, and ithas proven to effectively raise GPAs in the target demographics for a wide range of STEMcourses.SV skills are believed to develop at young ages through games such as block building andplaying with Lego™. In addition, drawing is already emphasized in grades K-8. TheSpatialKids™ App will allow students from all backgrounds to develop SV skills at an agewhere it can be easily acquired reducing any obstacles that women and other URMs often face ata later age. The ability to draw one’s dream invention will attract more students to the STEMfields and reduce barriers for those who have been hesitant to become engaged.It is recognized that many underserved communities do not have access to iPad technology.Therefore, to ensure that the application can be broadly disseminated, a web-based solution iscurrently being developed and will be provided to workshop participants when available. Inaddition, not all teachers are familiar with teaching SV. The integrated help and automaticgrading in SpatialKids™ allow the software to be easily incorporated into the curriculum byteachers from a wide range of backgrounds.1. “Why so Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics”. Published by AAUW, ISBN: 978-1-879922-40-2, 2010.2. Sorby, S. A., & Veurink, N. (2010). Long-term Results from Spatial Skills Intervention among First-Year Engineering Students. In Proceedings of the 65th Midyear Meeting of the Engineering Design Graphics Division of ASEE.2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 6 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WAAre there any online components to the proposal or presentation? (Note that these onlinecomponents may only be available to presenters or those who have their wireless subscriptions,since wireless may not be available during the workshop sessions.) No YesPlease describe: Our set of training iPads will be preloaded with the SpatialKids™ software, soan Internet connection is not required for the workshop. If an Internet connection is available wecan have participants download the complementary software onto their own devices during theworkshop; otherwise they will do this on their own at a later date. In an actual K-12 setting,teachers will use the Internet to setup student accounts and view each student’s progress. If anInternet connection is available in the workshop, then we will demonstrate these features live,otherwise we will demonstrate these features with pre-saved data. In an actual K-12 classroom,Internet is not actually needed when students are working on the App. The grading algorithm foreach activity is stored locally on each iPad. The data produced from the sketches (number ofattempts, number of hints, number of peeks at the solutions…) are synchronized automaticallywhen the teacher brings the iPads to a WiFi area.Grade Level Target Audience (check all that apply): Primary (EC–2) Elementary (3–5) Middle School (6-8) High School (9-12)Maximum Number of Participants: 20We will bring 20 iPads. If participants have their own iPads, we can increase the number ofparticipants and install the software on their individual devices. If this number is greater than 25, please describe how your workshop will equally engage all participants. By nature, the iPad App is extremely hands-on and engaging. Each participant will have access to his or her own device to play with the software.All Seating is Classroom (tables and chairs).Audio Visual Equipment Requests:2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 7 of 8 WORKSHOP PROPOSAL FORM 2015 Annual ASEE K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education “Authentic Engineering: Representing & Emphasizing the E in STEM” Presented by Dassault Systems Saturday, June 13, 2015 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sheraton Seattle | Seattle | WANote: An LCD projector, screen and podium with attached microphone are provided. Requestsfor additional equipment or resources (e.g., internet connection or laptops) will incur extracharges. If you do not have additional requests, please indicate with “Not applicable.”Depending on the cost, we may request internet connection if many participants sign up and wantto bring their own iPads. We will need internet to install the software on their devices. Reminder:Presenters must register and pay the registration fee to support their workshop attendance and audio/video costs. Thank you for completing this proposal form! Please review this document prior to submitting it to ensure that all items are complete. ASEE USE ONLYDate Received:Received By:Proposal ID Number:2015-ASEE-K12-SV Proposal-Delson Van Den Einde_Final .docx Page 8 of 8