Examining Shifts in Elementary Teachers’ Collective Connection Making Between Perspectives When Scoping Ill-Structured Engineering Design Problems

Using quantitative ethnography and epistemic network analysis, this study examined video observation data to identify shifts in elementary teachers’ connection making between perspectives (i.e. environmental, historical, political/organizational, etc.) as they scoped ill-structured engineering-design problems throughout a critical, engineering focused professional development (PD) program. Results from Mann-Whitney U tests showed statistically significant differences in teachers’ connection making from Module 1 to Module 2 (p = 0.02), Module 2 to Module 3 (p = 0.03), and Module 3 to Module 4 (p = 0.02). Despite these differences, the behavioral/social perspective remained a central lens through which participants scoped ill-structured problems across all four modules. Stakeholders should consider the nature of teachers’ connection making between perspectives as they design engineering PD, specifically in terms of the design problems selected.