STEAM Kit Design Challenge PBL Unit

How can we as educators design a project where our students work together, build crucial skills, and gain valuable experience while also inspiring the younger students who will come after them? The project in this Instructable is one of my attempts to answer this question, and I am excited to share it with everyone!

Hello! My name is Tony Harman, and I teach engineering classes at Excelsior Springs High School near Kansas City, Missouri. I'm currently in my 19th year teaching, and over the last six years, I've been incredibly lucky to teach a class called Innovative Design. This class mixes engineering, design, and marketing, and the STEAM kit PBL unit in this Instructable is always one my students' favorites.

In this project, the students are tasked with designing a hands-on kit to teach a younger student, typically between 3rd and 5th grade, about a topic from science, technology, engineering, arts, and/or mathematics. My students produce six copies of their kit, and toward the end of this project, they get to take their kits to one of our elementary schools to watch the elementary students test their creations! The project lasts from 4 to 6 weeks and is designed to teach the students many of the major skills they'll need later on in the class from problem validation to prototyping to data collection and analysis. The students are graded throughout the unit on the individual activities as well as their written communication, oral communication, and collaborative skills.

Let's get to it!

Supplies

The supplies needed for this project vary based on the kits the students decide to create, but I work to keep the costs as low as possible. The project kickoff involves STEM/maker kits that you can buy for $5-10 either online or at stores like Five Below (if they're in your area!), and the student groups are given a budget they are allowed to spend - typically no more than $100 for my classes, though most groups spend much less than that - and they have to submit supply requests for anything they need. The requests are entered into a shared spreadsheet, including links to the specific items, and I order the supplies through the school. We also make use of the tools and supplies I have in my classroom, which include a range of hand tools, 3D printers, and a laser cutter. I provide my students will a list of everything they have access to in the classroom, which you can find linked in this step.

Ultimately, one of the great things about this project is that you have no idea what the students will choose to design, so you have to be creative to meet the needs your students have for their kits!

Step 1: Project Kickoff

Days: 2

The goal of the project kickoff is to get the students excited about the project we are about to. To kickoff the project, the students are split into groups of 3 or 4, and each group is given a STEAM-related kit that I've purchased. I intentionally purchase less expensive kits both to control project costs and to help the students see the types of kits many children have access to. The students have a blast working with these kits, but they also need to learn from the experience. To help them begin to build their thinking for the upcoming project, each student has to complete the commercial kit analysis document to capture their experiences and impressions of the kit they worked with.

At the start of the next class, the students receive the entry doc for the project. The entry doc provides them with an overview of the learning experience they are about to engage in, and it is important that they have time to process it. I ask my students to read it twice - the first time they focus on reading the text, and the second time they underline things they understand and circle things they have questions about as they reread it. We then have a class discussion about the entry doc and collect a list of things they know and things they need to know about the project. Some things the students need to know can be answered immediately - project timeline, group size, etc. - but anything we can't answer immediately get posted in the classroom for us to answer as we go. Our goal for the entire project is to move everything from the "Need to know" column to the "Know" column by the end of the PBL unit.

Step 2: Problem Validation

Activity Learning Target: I can conduct research to determine if a problem is valid.

Days: 2

In this PBL unit, I provide the students with the basic problem we need to solve - we need to develop a way to enhance STEAM learning for 3rd through 5th grades. However, we still need to determine whether or not this problem is valid - in other words, is this problem actually worth our time and effort to solve? To accomplish this task, we have a class discussion to develop 3-5 angles to attack the problem from, then conduct research to find data and sources to support the problem. For example, "How would our problem impact our society?" or "How would our problem impact the health and safety of our clients?"

The students then work individually to locate resources that support our selected problem. The resources must be from reputable sources, must be timely (typically within the last three years or so), and must be relevant. The students are required to link their resource into a shared attack path research document, summarize the key points of their research, and provide an analysis of how their research supports our problem statement. I've provided a completed example from this year's students so you can see what this shared document might look like.

Once everyone has completed their research, we share the results in a class discussion and revise our problem statement to reflect our findings. This year's problem statement ended up as "According to a 2019 study by ACT, only 20% of graduates in the United States showed readiness for STEAM work even though jobs in the STEAM fields are expected to grow by 1.1 million by 2032." Our proposed solution to this problem is to create STEAM learning kits for children to develop their interest in these fields from an early age.

Step 3: Prior Solutions

Activity Learning Target: I can identify prior solutions for my problem and their pros and cons.

Days: 2

In order to effectively develop a solution for a problem, the students have to understand prior attempts to solve that problem. The next activity focuses on the students researching as many different STEAM kits that are currently on the market as possible. This learning has already started with the kickoff activity we did, but now we need to take it further. The students work in a blank shared presentation where each student has a slide to fill, though many students find enough examples to add more slides. Note that many students start searching on Amazon, but it is important to push them to explore as many websites as possible. For each kit a student finds, they have to do a quick analysis of pros and cons, including cost, appeal, and customer reviews. After a day or so of research, each student gives a short presentation to summarize their findings for the class.

This activity helps the students see the broad range of kits on the market, and it helps them start to develop their own ideas to create something unique and new for their kit. A completed example of the prior solutions research from one of my classes in included in this step.

Step 4: Design Requirements

Activity Learning Target: I can identify stakeholders for a problem and develop design requirements based on their needs.

Days: 2+

The final step in defining our problem is to identify the design requirements for a successful solution, or what a successful solution must and must not do. However, the students must first identify the stakeholders for their problem. Stakeholders are the people who are affected by or care about the problem, so we have a quick discussion about who that would be for our problem. Typically, the students quickly identify children, parents, and teachers, but pushing a little deeper might add more stakeholders such as school administrators and boards of education who have to make purchasing decisions or retailers who have to decide whether or not a STEAM kit is worth keeping in stock. At this point, if time allows, the students may want to interview some stakeholders to get their input. The photo in this step is of my students interviewing an elementary teacher in our district to get her input into their design requirements, and my students have put together questionnaires to ask parents and children they know.

Students then work in small groups where they take on the role of one or more stakeholder groups to determine what that group would require of a successful solution. This activity is a great exercise in empathy, because it requires them to put themselves in someone else's shoes and think about what their needs are. For example, a child is primarily going to be worried about how fun the kit is or how long it takes, but a teacher might be worried about how the kit aligns to their curriculum or how long it takes to clean up. All of the design requirements are recorded by stakeholder group into a shared document, and each student group shares their requirements out.

Typically, this process will results in 40-50 different design requirements, which is far too many. The next step is to narrow the requirements down. Each group takes the complete list and selects their ten most important design requirements. The groups then come together as a class to combine their individual group lists into the final list of design requirements ranked from most to least important. This process often involves a lot of debating and negotiation, but my students have always had fantastic discussions as they develop their final list. You'll find our completed example of design requirements from this year linked below.

Step 5: Brainstorming

Activity Learning Targets: I can use brainstorming techniques to generate potential solutions to a problem, and I can use a decision matrix to select a final design idea.

Days: 3

In this step of the PBL unit, the students take everything they have learned and defined about their problem, and using that information to start brainstorming possible solutions. My goal is to make this activity fun and active for my students. I cover the tables I have in my classroom with large sheets of poster paper and lay out markers at every table. We take a few minutes to review some guidelines for brainstorming:

• Go for quantity, not quality
• Record all ideas, no matter how crazy
• Build on the ideas of others
• Do not criticize ideas

The brainstorming is broken down into five minute chunks. Ideas often come in waves during brainstorming, so using five minute intervals give my students time to reset and refocus before coming up with more ideas. The prompts might include focusing on a specific area of science, taking inspiration from their favorite hobby, extending an idea from a prior solution, or building on an idea that's already been drawn. The students draw quick, rough sketches with a few words to record their ideas, and the goal is to fill all of the papers around the room.

At the end of class, the students walk around with their device and take pictures of their five favorite ideas. The next day, the students narrow the five ideas they picked down to three, then draw each of those ideas on a piece of paper. The papers are taped to the wall in the classroom, and the students work together to group those ideas into five or so common categories. This year's categories included mechanical engineering, physical science, chemistry, and more, and each category had five to six ideas. The students then rank their individual choice of categories from first to last, and I create the groups to mix the students together while also giving them their first or second choice.

The last step in this activity is for the students to use a decision matrix to select the design they will develop into a kit. In the example decision matrix linked in this step, the design requirements are listed down the side, and the different ideas from their category would be listed across the top. The group assigns a weight of one, two, or three to each design requirement based on how important they feel that requirement is, then score each idea against the design requirements. When scoring, one is the worst, and five is the best. The score is multiplied by the weight, and the weighted scores are added up to get the weighted total for each idea. The idea that gets the highest scores is the one the group moves forward with. To wrap up, each group completes the group contract to agree on how they will communicate and work together.

Step 6: Kit Development Part 1

Activity Learning Targets: I can identify my role in a group and complete the work for that role, and I can work a part of a team to accomplish a goal.

Days: 5

The time has finally come to develop the STEAM kits! To start, each group needs to select roles for the members of their groups - my students have done this in a previous project, so it goes quickly for us - and assign responsibilities. The roles normally include a project manager, a communications director, a graphic designer, and a logistics manager. I provide a list of essential dates, such as the deadline for supply requests, the project due date, and the date of our elementary school trip. The project manager is responsible for developing tasks and a timeline for the group and delivering it to me by the beginning of the next day. I meet with each project manager to discuss their timelines and give any recommendations while the rest of the group works on developing their kit idea.

One key early activity that takes place four or five days into this time is to have a Critical Friends discussion. The Critical Friends protocol, also called the Tuning Protocol, allows the students to have short, focused discussions to give and receive feedback on the idea they are developing. The guide below explains the protocol, and you can view a video overview from the Buck Institute for Education: Tuning Process Overview. In brief, the students split into discussion teams with one member from each project group in each discussion team. The students take turns completing the protocol where one student shares their design idea, then the other students provide warm and cool feedback and wrap up with a general discussion. The Critical Friends protocol is one of my favorite ways to structure these types of conversations in my classroom, and it never fails to make the students' ideas stronger.

Step 7: Kit Development Part 2

Activity Learning Targets: I can identify my role in a group and complete the work for that role, and I can work as part of a team to accomplish a goal.

Days: 10-15

As the kit development process continues, the teacher transitions into a guide and facilitator role based on what each group needs. I meet with each group frequently to monitor their progress. I may also pull aside one of the roles from all of the groups if needed. For example, as the groups get ready to develop their instructions, I may pull the communications directors aside to show them exemplar instructions from previous kits or to lead mini-lessons for issues that arise. I also provide additional assistance such as 3D modeling in Fusion 360 or using tools to prototype parts.

Some key elements and milestones that the students need to plan for and meet will include:

• Requesting supplies to use in their kit (remember they are making six copies of their kit!)
• Prototyping the kit elements
• Testing the kit elements
• Developing kit instructions
• Creating outer packaging designs for the kit
• Planning the assembly and packing of the kit contents
• Assembling the individual kits
• Developing feedback collection tools

The most important deadline is a hard completion date where all of the groups must have their six kits ready to test. We take five of the kits to the elementary school, and the remaining kit is set aside for the pitch presentation at the end of the unit.

Step 8: Testing Time!

Activity Learning Target: I can collect effective feedback about my design from a stakeholder group.

Days: 1

STEAM kit testing day is one of my favorite of the entire school year! This is the day where my students take their kits to an elementary classroom and hand them off to an elementary student to watch what happens. Before we go into the elementary classrooms, I remind the students to take thorough notes and pictures, to let the elementary students experience the kits on their own, and to treat everyone with kindness and respect.

The elementary students are always so excited and cannot wait to tear into the kits. My students, the classroom teachers, and I observe, take photos, and write notes about what we see. My students learn more in one hour watching the elementary students than they ever could have expected. From creatively using the materials to completely ignoring the instructions to making an experiment work on the first try, the elementary students never fail to be amazing.

In my experience, the kit testing and follow-up interviews with the elementary students takes about an hour to complete, but it is also extremely important to debrief with the students immediately after the experience. This year, I was able to keep my students for an additional hour where we were able to discuss what happened and to capture their thinking immediately. Our discussion was based on the following questions:

• What is your biggest takeaway from this experience?
• What surprised you the most about how the students used your kits?
• What were some difficulties the students had with your kits?
• What are some key quotes you could use in your presentation?
• What feedback did you receive about your kits?

Step 9: Product Pitches and Reflections

Activity Learning Target: I can use feedback I've collected to improve my design, and I can build a persuasive pitch to convince an audience that a solution is useful.

Days: 6

The day after we visit the elementary students is crucial. My students are typically still buzzing from the experience, so it is time to direct that energy toward the final step: their product pitches. I start this day by having all of my students circle up, and we use a talking object, such as a stuffed animal, to pass around the circle to hear from everyone as we discuss. We always start this discussion celebrations and gratitude. What would you like to celebrate from this whole process? Who would you like to express gratitude to? It is important for the students to remember all of the pieces that had to come together to build and test the kits and to recognize the efforts that made everything possible.

After our celebrations, I refocus the students on using the feedback they collected to prepare for their pitch presentations. Their final task is to act as a product design team working at a company that manufactures STEAM learning kits who are about to pitch their kit idea to a board of brand managers. The students' design team has to convince the brand managers that their design is worth developing further and putting into full production. In particular, we discuss how a pitch should flow using the chart linked below. At this point, the students are the experts about their STEAM kits, so they have complete control over what their pitch will look like. The groups spend the next several days preparing their pitches and making final adjustments to their STEAM kits based on the feedback they received. As the final pitches approach, every group is required to perform at least one practice pitch in advance of their final presentation to practice and to get feedback.

Meanwhile, I gather judges from around the school - principals, counselors, instructional coaches, teachers on plan, and other students - to serve as our panel of four to six brand managers. On the day of the presentations, the brand managers use the judges form linked below to give the students feedback on their presentations, while the other students in the class give each group feedback on how effectively they used the pitch flow. Each group gives their pitch presentation and then takes questions from the judges. Each presentation is recorded, and the students receive grades based on the feedback from the judges and my own observations.

On the final day of the project, the students wrap up with one last written reflection piece. The goal of this reflection is to extend their learning beyond the current project to shift their thinking for future projects. As the students complete the reflection, I meet with each group individually to discuss their presentations and final grades for the unit. After a long and fantastic journey, our PBL unit has come to an end!

Step 10: Final Thoughts

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this Instructable! This project is one of my favorites of the year, and I never know what my students will create as we jump into it. I am proud of the work I've put into this PBL unit, but I know there are so many ways I could continue to develop and improve it. If you have tried something similar in your classroom, or if you try this project, I would love to hear from you! What are your favorite aspects of this project? What ideas do you have to make this experience even better for my students? Thank you again!