This work supported by the Stanford Accelerator for Learning.

Abstract: JigJam is a digital learning platform designed to help students in late elementary / middle school engage with engineering in a way that is relevant to them and that supports the development of an interest in engineering and of their sense of identity as a participant in STEM. The conceptual framework combines student-led making and reflective problem-solving to build interest and engagement. The playful engineering design challenges in JigJam’s curriculum are designed to engage students in authentic engineering practices while encouraging them to create solutions that are relevant and authentic to their own values and interests. To guide students through these practices, JigJam scaffolds the problem-solving strategies that students need to be successful. JigJam’s aim is to increase participation in engineering for more diverse students and, over time, encourage more of these students to persist in STEM fields.

This design study evaluated students’ understanding of and ability to apply engineering design practices after working through design challenges with the system’s guidance, as well as students’ interest in engineering activities. We found promising evidence of understanding of the engineering design and problem-solving strategies supported by the system, as well as increased interest and self-efficacy in engineering. We are continuing this research with a codesign trial with educators, with the goal of making it easier for educators without a background in engineering education to implement authentic engineering design challenges with their students.