This page is for all of our lingering questions that we have about notebooks, STOMP’s role in creating authentic engineering practice in the classroom, and how students are interacting with us, the notebooks, and engineering as a discipline. All of our questions are organized by headings, but there is overlap between each of the sections. We hope that you’ll consider these questions as you think about engineering education, and contribute to the conversation! Add a comment to this page, or email us with your ideas and examples at stompnotebooks@gmail.com!
Use of Notebooks in the Classroom
Conflict and compromise skills: can we scaffold teaching these skills by using notebooks?
How do we provide informative examples of notebook practices when the use of engineering notebooks has so far been limited to a few case studies?
How much do learners use notebooks to reproduce what they feel is expected of them versus as tools to support their engineering design processes?
Engineering Practice and Conceptualization
If notebooks are such a powerful tool for creating an understanding of what students think engineering is, how can we be careful and intentional about crafting this understanding?
What’s the difference between planning and documenting? Are learners using notebooks as tools to figure out what they’re going to create, or as records for what they did create? What is the value of each practice? How can activities encourage each practice specifically?
How to Engineer in a k-8 Setting
What do we do if engineering only means building in students’ minds? Are any other aspects of engineering going to be boring or disengaging for them in the classroom?
How do we make engineering activities authentic for students when they’re building with cardboard? Is having a real connection to an overarching narrative enough? What about having long-term projects, rather than hour-long ones? Is it useful to have projects be community based, involving REAL clients?
STOMP Notebooks 