Grade-7 Students’ Product Promotion During an Engineering Design Task on Space Pollution Subject

https://doi.org/10.55549/ijaste.30

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate grade-7 students’ engineering design and product promotion on space pollution subject. The study was conducted with 52 students (19 female and 33 male) from a middle school in a city located in East Black Sea Region, Turkey. In this study, a holistic single case study method was used. The data was collected through worksheets, audio records, and peer evaluation forms. Content analysis was used in determining engineering design levels and content analysis and descriptive analysis was used in determining the qualities of product promotion. Results indicated that groups generally performed well in the steps of choosing the best solution, building the prototype, and presenting it. It was found that groups did not perform well in the steps of problem specification, developing solutions to the problems, and testing of prototypes. It was seen that the designed products were suitably qualified. It was found that qualities such as appearance, display, and cost of the design got higher points in peer evaluation. The groups used different strategies in product promotion. It was found that qualities of the arguments groups used in oral presentations were successful while they couldn’t perform well in quality levels of their answers. Implications were provided in line with these results.