Chapter 5: What does it Mean to be Authentic?: Challenges and Opportunities Faced in Creating K–12 Engineering Design Projects

There is a growing interest in bringing engineering design projects into K–12 classrooms (NASEM, 2020; NGSS Leads States, 2013). Such projects hold potential for many learning opportunities, including helping students develop (1) design thinking abilities (Dym et al., 2005) and (2) reasoning skills in connection to disciplinary knowledge (Wolmarans, 2016). However, creating project-based engineering curricula is not easy for teachers wishing to integrate engineering into their classrooms through design challenges or researchers striving to investigate the educational effects of these projects. Developing engineering design projects involves many decisions in terms of scope and disciplinary depth, as well as tradeoffs between the simplicity and accessibility on the one hand, and the authenticity and realism of the project on the other. Consequently, much variation exists in curricula designed for K–12 education.