{"id":8371,"date":"2019-05-07T20:07:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T20:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citejournal.org\/\/\/"},"modified":"2019-08-30T20:17:59","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T20:17:59","slug":"reflections-of-rube-goldberg-machines-on-the-prospective-science-teachers-stem-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citejournal.org\/volume-19\/issue-2-19\/science\/reflections-of-rube-goldberg-machines-on-the-prospective-science-teachers-stem-awareness","title":{"rendered":"Reflections of Rube Goldberg Machines on the Prospective Science Teachers’ STEM Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"
In recent years, new developments in science education have been witnessed. The concept of engineering is now found in teaching curricula \u2013 just one example of these new developments. Engineering concepts are also in harmony with the nature of science education. In particular, integrating engineering in science education and linking disciplines in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) education are reform efforts aimed at meeting 21st<\/sup>– century needs in education (National Research Council [NRC], 2009).<\/p>\n One of the new subjects in the school setting in US K-12 is engineering (NRC, 2005). The NRC (2005) covers the relationship between the foundations of science standards and technological design processes, with students determining the problem, developing a solution or designing a product, applying the design, and finally evaluating the design. Similarly, the concept of engineering was included in middle school science curricula (Grades 5-8) in Turkey.<\/p>\n In this way, a new skill area has been added to the 2018 middle school science curriculum under the name of \u201cengineering and design skills.\u201d This skill area was aimed at students being able to integrate science, mathematics, technology and engineering subjects and solving problems with a cross-disciplinary approach (The Ministry of Education, 2018).<\/p>\n In parallel with these developments, Turkish middle school science teachers must incorporate engineering designs for their students in their science courses. Science teachers and prospective science teachers must first have an awareness with regard to engineering design. Thus, in Turkey, it was noted that science teachers\u2019 and prospective science teachers\u2019 experiences regarding STEM education should be improved as part of preservice and in-service training (Akg\u00fcnd\u00fcz et al., 2015).<\/p>\n STEM education is expressed as an interdisciplinary teaching system, consisting of practical approaches aimed at integrating the four disciplines (Bybee, 2010). In recent years, STEM education has been seen as one of the most notable innovations in engineering design. In this sense, it has been pointed out that STEM education and the engineering design process, which is one of the dimensions of STEM, may have important outcomes for students. For example, in the STEM education process, an interdisciplinary perspective becomes dominant, and students are involved in an inquiry-based learning process (Bell, 2010; Eron & Rachlin, 2015; Milaturrahmah, Mardiyana, & Pramudya, 2017).<\/p>\n Engineering design activities are a powerful strategy for the integration of science, mathematics and technology (Cantrell, Pekcan, Itani, & Velasquez-Bryant, 2006). Moreover, science inquiry and engineering design offer learning opportunities to embody K-12 STEM education (NRC, 2011). Thus, most governments have introduced strong initiatives to promote STEM awareness and motivation, as STEM is one of the competitive areas that will determine a nation’s future status (Bahar & Ad\u0131guzel, 2016).<\/p>\n In this regard, STEM awareness is seen as a prerequisite for individual interaction, self-efficacy, and self-development (Kovarik et al., 2013). The awareness to be created with regard to STEM will, therefore, both increase the four different disciplines\u2019 importance and increase the number of individuals that the present era needs. Thanks to STEM education, more importance has been given to the design process (the engineering dimension) in terms of science courses (Bequette & Bequette, 2012). Thus, it is emphasized that science, or STEM, must be associated with other subjects such as philosophy, language, history, and the various disciplines at all levels of education (European Commission, 2015).<\/p>\n Rube Goldberg was not only an engineer, he was a popular cartoonist at the beginning of the 20th century. Moreover, although he is known for his drawings, he also designed machines involving a series of complex steps to perform simple tasks (Howard, Williams, & Yao, 2010). In this sense, Rube Goldberg was a man who became synonymous with the use of convoluted, complicated machines to carry out simple tasks (Pierson & Suchora, 2002).<\/p>\n For example, if the goal is to turn on a light switch, a bowling ball that descends from a ramp hits an arm that triggers the fall of a line of dominoes, creating a series of waves. This wave strikes the button, causing a mechanism to be sprung that causes the light to come on as intended (Quigley, Herro, & Jamil, 2017).<\/p>\n Rube Goldberg machines involving a chain reaction have been used in science education because they are also science-focussed and particularly suitable for science. Various studies have concentrated on concepts related to physics and mathematics (Brush, 2017; Davis, Chlebowski, & Ellert, 2017; Ganesh & Thieken, 2010; O’Connor, 2003; Selvi & Soto-Caban, 2016; Yanik, Ferguson, Kaul, & Yan, 2017).<\/p>\n Ganesh and Thieken (2010), for example, gave various tools to seventh-grade students for creating a simple circuit (a battery pack, power cables, buzzers, a light-emitting diode LED, switches, milk\/juice cartons, coat hangers, aluminum foil, and cardboard). Then the students explored different combinations with regard to building electrical circuits and formed various circuits with chain reactions.<\/p>\n Brush (2017) showed how Rube Goldberg machines can be used for Grade 6-8 students in teaching force and motion. Similarly, O’Connor (2003) stated that Rube Goldberg machines could be used for teaching metric measurement (mathematics) and simple machines (physics) to fifth-grade students.<\/p>\n Kim and Park (2012) pointed out that Rube Goldberg machines have also helped to develop positive attitudes on the part of students toward science. Thus, teaching science concepts and creating awareness about engineering to students may be possible using Rube Goldberg machines.<\/p>\n Additionally, Rube Goldberg machines can be used to create a STEM experience in the form of an interdisciplinary activity integrating science, technology, and engineering as part of an authentic problem-solving project (Ambrose & Sternberg, 2016). Similarly, it was pointed out that Rube Goldberg machines not only integrate STEM concepts, but also require individuals to craft the design of the machine creatively (O’Byrne et al., 2018).<\/p>\n Thus, it can be said that Rube Goldberg machines could be important in terms of creating engineering awareness. In this sense, Marklin (2018) stated that Rube Goldberg machines are not only drawings, but also innovative engineering designs, while Acharya and Sirinterlikci (2010) noted that Rube Goldberg machines have been used for engineering design. In this way, students who are exposed to design-oriented processes such as a Rube Goldberg machines may become aware of what is involved and understand what STEM education means.<\/p>\n In this current study, a design cycle was needed to create Rube Goldberg machines, and it was decided that the steps of the engineering design process comprised the most appropriate design cycle. In the process of creating STEM designs, students can be inspired by Rube Goldberg machines (Marklin, 2018). Consequently, the engineering design process cycle shown in Figure 1 was taken into consideration when designing Rube Goldberg machines.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nSTEM Education<\/h2>\n
Rube Goldberg Machines<\/h2>\n