Judith LaPlantePowell High School

JELAPLANTE@PCSD1.ORG

Documenting the process of inquiry, exploration, and

problem solving in project based education

Engineering Notebooks:

Breadth of Students Prepared for STEM Jobs (infused & expert)

Engineer/Developer/Scientist

Architect

Project Manager

AccountantTechnical Writer

Quality Assurance

CEO

Manufacturing/Assembly

Chief Creative Officer

Inq

uiry

, exp

lora

tion

, p

rob

lem

solv

ing

Stacked Skills “Coachable”

Peer Review

Articulate Goals and Decision Frameworks

Fail Fast, Fail Forward

Documenting the Journey

Good Communication

Process vs Product

Real World

Communication

Com

mun

icati

on Answer questionsBack up answers with factsProper formattingGood English conventionsUse multi media Pr

oces

s vs

Pro

duct Show your work

Make predictionsMake plansReflect on how it went

Real

Wor

ld Talking in front of people

Beginner

Your Turn

• Beginner Folder• Compare

• Amazing 1 and Amazing 2• Which one is better? Why? Be Specific on where they meet the expectation for a

beginner.• Compare

• Dark Side of the Moon 1 and 2• Which one is better? Why? Be Specific on where they meet the expectation for a

beginner.

• Not capturing when student fails, what failed and why, what to try next?• Allowing them to complete the task first then

write what they did• Introspection is a four letter word

• Students don’t write in complete sentences• They want to regurgitate a fact

and I want proof of concept

Com

mun

icati

on

Documents have cover pagesDocuments organized by date and topicDescribe the problem you are trying to solvePlans include parts and drawingsPros and consInclude photo of plans, drawings

Proc

ess

vs P

rodu

ct Include researchBreak down plans using charts, tables, decision trees, and drawingsBreak down the process into steps and turn in steps as you goPlans (including break down of work)

Real

Wor

ld Produce own documents, not just fill in worksheets

Intermediate

Your Turn

• Intermediate Folder• Compare: Mission 4 example 1 and 2• Where do they meet the expectation for an intermediate? How do they fall

short? Is one noticeably better?

Intermediate Other Examples

• Mission One Aquatic Robot Plan• Detailed drawing with mathematical relationships

• NXT-G Engineering Notebook• P 5 – Breakdown of tasks between team members• P 10 – poor drawings• P 11 – better idea for drawings, tasks being

tracked daily

• Mission 4 Engineering Notebook• P1 – requirements and constraints• P2 – images of designs• P4 – summary of testing, table of movements

• Team Pandora• P3 – using parts to describe robot• P4 – Resource List and plan• P5 – math to determine distance

• Final Project• P1 – cover page• P2 – great drawings• P3 – parts list and requirements

• Pruney Robotics• P2 – 4 - research• P7 – drawing of plan, used the

actual field• P8 – weekly feedback

• Stark Industries• P1 – resource list with reasons

behind their decisions

• Can’t describe the problem they are trying to fix• Difficult to predict and schedule

• Students don’t know the basics• How to create a table• Can’t insert or edit an image• Can’t take and insert a screen show• Don’t know how to create a cover page

Com

mun

icati

on

Clear description/Objective of task at handClear description of constraintsMore developed Pros and Cons lists (table or bulleted lists)Pr

oces

s vs

Pro

duct Table of contents kept

up to dateDescription of predictions include evaluation of potential trouble spots and contingencies

Real

Wor

ld In-depth study of how technical document differ from research papers and other English papers you do in school

Proficient

Your Turn

• Proficient Folder• Compare: Team Scooby Snacks and No Comment Notebooks• Where do they meet the expectation for proficient? How do they fall short?

Is one noticeably better?

Proficient Other Examples

• No Comment Notebook• Title page• Table of contents• Clear description of task at hand• Entries in chronological order• Clear pros and cons lists• Images and links to more information

• Obstacle Race• ELL students – lots of writing• Great drawing using tools available

• Reasoning and criteria for decisions muddled• Not using enough domain specific terms• Plans are too high level and don’t contain

contingencies

• Pros and Cons only touch the “surface”• Entries in order but don’t capture

anything but the date• Students ignore constraints• Unclear goals

Com

mun

icati

on

Proc

ess

vs P

rodu

ct

Real

Wor

ld Document independenceGiven set of expectations, students execute on projectsCoaching given weekly on document contentsExpect students to make changes and improvements every weekStudents allowed to use more variety of tools at their discretion

Advanced

Your Turn

• Advanced Folder• Compare: SkillsUSA notebook and Computer Science Notebook

Advanced Other Examples

• Team SnS• Large variety of methods to convey images• Table of contents by date and topic• P3 – chart showing critical thinking• P9 – table clearly comparing three designs• P13 – clearly comparing three designs for

consideration

• No Comment Notebook• More developed table of contents• Good breakdown along the engineering

process for organization, but did not follow it through until the end

• P4 – Excellent chart for comparison• P6-7 images showing progression of design

• SkillsUSA Notebook• P2 concept of engineering process and how

to organize their notebook (good) didn't follow through and that is evident in their final robot project.

• Trieme Robotics• P8 – star ratings to clearly compare designs• p5-10 does a good job of the journey of

how they looked at arm/claw/base subsystems.

• CONS - lacks any real criteria for determining and didn't close the loop on other subsystems

• pg 11/12 has some good hand drawings incorporated. some good pics throughout

• Not enough peer review• Check in/ feedback on the process being

ignored

• Not structuring the document to get the journey• Getting “Dear Diary” entries

Other Examples

• Computer Science Independent Study - • “advanced” student• P1 - Cover page• P2+ table of contents, • P8 – Initial Entries document goals, problem and solution• P9-11 – Code samples, goals, external links, explanations – Off to a GREAT start!

• CS - Apollo 2000• These are “beginner” students all working on one document• Lots of drawings• Work is broken down by student so they know who is working on which part of the program

• CS - RoboBomb• 7 “beginner” students working on the same document• Good use of headings• Broken down by levels and owners

Summary

• Well designed engineering documentation assignments (short term or long term) can help make clear to the students the difference between work product and engineering process

• Must scale throughout their coursework • Starts with guided questions and teaching inquiry and prediction• Moves to exploration & problem solving • Problem based learning -> project based learning -> challenge based learning

• Look for the journey not the out come - the inquiry, exploration, and problem solving are most important

• Create a culture where “failure IS a success” so long as the value created is the learning achieved