Interest in engineering at the P-12 level has increased in recent years, largely in response to STEM educational reform (Strimel, Grubbs, & Wells, 2016). One of the driving forces is to expose young people to the field of engineering, in an effort to cultivate a pipeline for a STEMcapable workforce (NAE & NRC, 2009). Another motivator, is to engage all students in more meaningful and authentic activities, to spark their curiosity, and develop their critical thinking skills (Grubbs & Strimel, 2015; Kaplan-Leiserson, 2015). Simply, engineering is viewed as beneficial to student learning and success in life, not just for workforce preparation. Consequently, engineering, as a process, is increasingly being utilized across all P-12 school subjects (e.g. Next Generation Science Standards, Standards for Technological Literacy, K-12 Computer Science Framework) and other outreach efforts (e.g. Maker Spaces and Maker Movements).
Despite greater attention to the value, importance, and use of engineering for teaching and learning, the educational community has engaged minimally in the deliberate and coherent study of it (NAE & NRC, 2014). Specifically, few efforts have been conducted to examine the engineering content and skillsets that are developmentally appropriate for P-12 education (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine, 2017; NRC, 2010). Yet, the recent report, Increasing the Roles and Significance of Teachers in Policymaking for K-12 Engineering Education: Proceedings of a Convocation (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine, 2017), recommends, that there needs to be greater awareness of what engineering content knowledge teachers need to address different grade bands. Furthermore, experienced teachers, could work with content experts to “develop a framework or taxonomy for engineering education in different contexts” (p. 15). As there have been no updates to the Standards for Technological Literacy (ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007), despite adding the word engineering to the profession’s title in 2009, the school discipline of Technology and Engineering Education (TEE), can lead this charge. Action would align, with the notion that the STLs were recommended as not being “static and immutable”, rather, they “as is true for all good standards will undergo periodic reassessment and reevaluation. It is very much a living document." (ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007, pg. vi). Thus, an update, including a more focused and in depth attempt to illustrate engineering and design as a content base and way of thinking, is necessary, and timely, given the recent release of the Next Generation Science Standards, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) assessment results, American Society of Engineering Education Professional Development Standards, and upcoming Advanced Placement Engineering course.
Consequently, preliminary attempts have been conceived and proposed by the authors of this article to provide a curricular framework for the coherent study of engineering, in relation to the currently existing discipline. The frameworks proposed within, are meant to be working documents, reviewed by stakeholders within and external of our own professional community, with the purpose of more explicitly detailing the experiences of P-12 students, their development of engineering literacy, and the subsequent learning progressions associated with said development. Lastly, given the vague nature of the term engineering education, and historical misconception of Technology Education (e.g. Dugger & Naik, 2001), an interpretation of what P-12 engineering education is, and is not, will also be discussed.