Ac 2007-1137: the Effects of Stomp on Students' Understandings of and Attitudes toward the Engineering Design Process

At Tufts University there exists an engineering educational outreach program called the Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program. This program is designed to take engineering students and place them in K-12 outreach to act as mentors for teachers and students. Previous research conducted on the program showed that participation in the program helped students develop much needed citizenship and communication skills. Administrators of the program have long hypothesized that the program also assists in the development of deeper understandings of engineering related concepts. The following research is a preliminary study supporting just such a claim. Through a series of attitudinal surveys, knowledge assessments, and observations focused on the individuals’ experience and the engineering design process, the effects of a teaching experience.