| Dr. Merredith Portsmore |
|
Director of Outreach Programs
Merredith was born in Trenton, NJ and raised in Midland Park, NJ where she graduated Midland Park High School in 1993. Merredith has earned both a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in English from Tufts University in 1998. Merredith has also received her M.A. in Education from Tufts University in 1999. She completed her PhD in Engineering Education in 2010. She currently resides in Chelmsford, MA with her husband Dan and son Austin. CEEO Responsibilities Merredith is the Director of Outreach Programs for the CEEO. She is responsible for overseeing all of the Center's outreach programs and efforts in the community. She is the founder of the Tufts University STOMP program and original developer of LEGOengineering.com. Merredith's current research focuses on how first grade students engage in understanding and solving engineering design problems. For more information, please click here. Education Ph.D. Engineering Education, Tufts University 2010 M.A. Education, Tufts University 1999 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University 1998 B.A. English, Tufts University 1998 Research Interest K-12 engineering education in the United States has gained
significant momentum in the past 10 years as engineering-based curriculum
projects, web sites and professional development have emerged across the
country. Engineering education in
the U.S is slowly changing from a way to increase enrollment in engineering at
the college level to a movement that advocates including engineering content
and methods for all students as a means to help students understand the
designed world, provide students with a methodology for solving ill-defined
problems, and as a context for integrating science and mathematics learning. Professional engineers use the steps of
the engineering design process to help organize their thinking and actions to
move from an ill-defined problem through research, brainstorming, planning, prototyping,
testing, and redesign to a final designed solution. At the core of the majority of K-12 engineering education initiatives
is the idea of bringing the engineering design process into the classroom. My research interests focus on how K-12 students engage in learning engineering (learning to design solutions to ill-defined problems). I am particularly interested in
Brophy,S.,
Klein, S., Portsmore, M., & Rogers, C. (2008). Advancing engineering education in P-12 classrooms. Journal of Engineering
Education, 97(3), 369-387. PDF Carberry,A.,
Portsmore, M., & Rogers, C. (2007). The effects of STOMP
on student's understandings of and attitudes toward the engineering
designprocess. Paper presented at the American Society for
Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, HI. PDF Cejka,E.,
Rogers, C., & Portsmore, M. (2006). Kindergarten robotics:Using
robotics to motivate math, science, and engineering literacy in
elementary school. International Journal of Engineering
Education,22(4), 711-722. PDF Bers,M., & Portsmore, M. (2005). Teaching partnerships: Early childhood and engineering students teaching math and science through robotics.Journal of Science Education and Technology, 14(1), 59-73. Rogers, C., & Portsmore, M. (2004). Bringing engineering to elementary school. Journal of STEM Education, 5(3). PDF Book Chapters
Portsmore, M. (Forthcoming). Exploring first grade students’ drawing and artifact construction during an engineering design problem. In B. M. Brizuela & B. E. Gravel (Eds.), "Show me what you know" Exploring representations across STEM disciplines.: Teachers' College Press (contract signed). Wendell, K., Kendall, A., Portsmore, M., Wright, C., Jarvin, L., & Rogers, C. (Forthcoming). Embedding Elementary School Science Instruction In Engineering Design Problem Solving. In J. Strobel, S. Purzer & M. Cardella (Eds.), Engineering in Pre-College Settings: Research into Practice. Conference Proceedings Cejka,
E., Pickering, M., Conroy, K.,Moretti, L., & Portsmore, M. (2005).
What do college engineering students learn in K-12 classrooms:
Understanding the development of citizenship & communication
skills. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering
Education Annual Conference & Exposition,Portland, OR. PDF Pickering,M.,
Ryan, E., Conroy, K., Gravel, B., & Portsmore, M. (2004). The
benefits of outreach to engineering students. Paper presented at the
American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference
&Exposition, Salt Lake City, UT. PDF Dissertaton Portsmore, M. (2010). Exploring How Experience with Planning Impacts First Grade Students’ Planning and Solutions to Engineering Design Problem. Unpublished Dissertation, Tufts University. *E-mail me directly if you would like a copy* Qualifying Paper Portsmore, M., (2008) Exploring first grade students' planning an an engineering design problem and its relationships to artifact construction and success: A pilot study. Unpublished Qualifying Paper, Tufts University.PDF |
