The scientific method is a series of steps that can be followed to answer a question. This process begins with a question. The user researches the question and comes up with a hypothesis. The user then experiments to test their hypothesis. The user than analyzes that data to come up with conclusions.
In the engineering design process, the user is striving to solve a problem. They research that problem, and they along with their team, come up with all possible solutions to that problem. It is then narrowed to the best solution. A prototype is then built and tested. The user than works to improve the prototype until they feel they have the best possible solution.
In the classroom, the scientific method is most often used. Students are given the experiment by their teacher, told to come up with a hypothesis. They then follow the steps of the scientific method until they come up with a conclusion. This is very teacher led and the students are more or less following a template. I imagine that in the classroom, you would begin the engineering design process by putting the students into groups. You would then present them with a problem and the students would follow the engineering design process until they came up with the best prototype. They would then build that prototype and keep working on it until they have almost perfected it. In this classroom, the teacher is playing more of a boss role and the students are playing engineers. The teacher assigns them a task that she needs done and ultimately it is up with the students and their creativity to solve the problem.
I think teachers should use the engineering design process. I remember in middle school I had one teacher, in a robotics class, who used the engineering design process. I, at the time did not know this was what he was using. However, he told us we needed to build something that could move our pencil from our side of the table to the other side of the table We then were broken up into groups and had to come up with something. My group ultimately built a robot. When it failed to get the pencil to the other side of the table we kept working until it could. I remember this being so fun and unlike anything else I had ever done before. Our teacher did not give us solid help. He would ask questions that guided our thought, but he would not give us any hints. We learned a lot that day. I feel I learned more that day then I have in any science class following the scientific method. That is why I believe the engineering design process is the way to go in our classrooms.
The scientific method has its strengths. For instance, it helps students follow the process and ultimately get the experiment done. It was never a big deal if your hypothesis turned out incorrect, you could just make a new one and try the experiment again. This gets students into the science process and helps them become actively engaged in it. I think a weakness is that it is very teacher led. The teacher is still doing a lot of the leading. Often times the teacher will show them the experiment that they have to do. It takes away a lot of creativity.
The engineering design process has a strength of letting the children's imagination run wild. They ultimately have to constrain themselves to work with the resources that they have. A weakness of the engineering design process is that it could require more resources than the scientific method because students have to be able to build their prototype that they feel will best solve the problem. It can also be more time consuming because they have to spend a lot of time thinking about what prototype will work best before building it instead of following a previously designed experiment.
Overall, I feel that both the scientific method and the engineering design process have their place in today's classrooms. However, if you have the resources and the extra time, I feel the engineering design process is the way to go.
Citations:
[Jessica Maxwell]. (2016, August 25). Design Process vs. Scientific Method [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrlswrq5aIs
The Scientific Method. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bscsd.org/Page/991
TeachEngineering. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.teachengineering.org/k12engineering/designprocess
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