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| What is my role as a teacher during LEGO engineering activities? |
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It may be helpful to think of yourself as a problem poser, consultant, and facilitator. LEGO engineering activities are intended to be exploratory, and your role is to establish an exploratory learning environment where re-designing, re-testing, and constructive reflection on failure are all encouraged.
As a problem-poser, you...
- engage students in addressing an interesting problem or question within an engineering design challenge
- make explicit the idea that this is open-ended design and that there are many "correct" solutions to the problem
- focus student exploration on the "big picture" of the problem
The book Brick Layers: Creative Engineering with LEGO Constructions by the AIMS Education Foundation offers these suggestions for thinking about your role as consultant and facilitator:
As a consultant, you...
- make sure students understand the overarching question of the activity. What question are we trying to answer? What problem are we trying to solve?
- give information essential to conducting the design challenge, but not too much, so as to retain the discovery and student-ownership aspects of the activity.
- construct compatible student groups and assign roles for collaborative learning.
- give clear directions from the beginning about any limitations on materials, time, or reporting expectations.
As a facilitator, you...
- supply necessary LEGO pieces and other materials (batteries, computers, etc.)
- observe students and keep them focused on the main question
- ask questions to help groups make progress or explore different strategies
- make explicit any math, science, or other content-based ideas in play
Reference:
Erickson, S., Seymour, T., Suey, M. Brick Layers: Creative Engineering with LEGO(R) Constructions. Fresno, CA: AIMS Education Foundation. 1996.
KAB
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