Abstract:

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have become very popular because technology and engineering are two basic elements that help economic development (Roberts, 2012). Therefore, countries have initiated various reform movements in education and STEM education has a central role in these movements (Corlu, Capraro &Capraro, 2014). In the literature, integration of STEM education has been interpreted in many ways with regard to the number of disciplines considered and the scope of the integration (e.g. English, 2016; Moore& Smith, 2014). In this study, one approach for integrating science, mathematics and engineering through engineering design based modelling problem was considered (e.g. English & King, 2017; Moore& Smith, 2014).

Gifted students as a bright of society can be directed to STEM professionals and can contribute to the development of the society (Mann et al., 2011). If students experience STEM experiences in early ages, they may be more inclined to follow STEM careers (Maltese & Tai, 2010). Hence, STEM education is crucial for gifted students because of their potential in STEM domains. Moreover, STEM education provides opportunities to catch the 21st century skills such as being innovative, critical thinking, communication skills, solving real-life problems and working collaboratively (Tseng, Chang, Lou, & Chen, 2013). For this reason, gifted students should engage with engineering design based activities at an early age. Hence, this study aims to investigate gifted students’ experiences when they engage in designing eco-friendly car. In this example, students design the most environmentally friendly car with the lowest price to find the solutions to environmental problem. In particular, the automobile company expects gifted students to assist in determining which type of power plant (solar energy, hydraulic energy, geothermal energy or wind power) is best to produce the most environmentally friendly car. Data for each power plant such as efficiency, initial investment and production cost, greenhouse gas are given. To determine the power plant to be used in building the most ecological car, gifted students are asked to list the choices and write down their reasons. When designing prototype eco-cars, they explain how to design the fastest and most durable vehicle with the lowest budget and which energy source they use. Gifted students applied engineering design process along with mathematics and science knowledge to design and build eco-friendly car prototype.

A qualitative case research design was employed for the study. The participants of the study were six middle school gifted students with two groups of three. The data was collected through gifted students’ video recordings when they engaged in the problem and worksheets. A framework for young students’ engineering design processes; namely, problem scoping, idea generation, designing and constructing, assessing design and redesigning and reconstructing (English &King &Smeed, 2017) formed the basis of the study. The findings of this study revealed that both group applied engineering design processes and STEM disciplinary knowledge to plan and build eco-friendly car considering the constraints of the problem. After assessing their design, both group re-built their cars. The properties of shapes and data interpretation (mathematics), stability, balance, friction and air pressure (science) and engineering techniques were apparent in their design process.

Keywords:

Gifted students, engineering-design process, modelling, STEM education.