optimum model. The integral roles of design sketching
are well documented in the literature (e.g., Anning 1997;
Song and Agogino 2004; Tversky and Suwa 2009). For
example, Song and Agogino’s (2004) research with
undergraduate engineering students indicated that the
volume of total sketches and the number of 3-D
sketches had an increasingly positive effect on design
outcomes. Given that the activities we implement in the
elementary school require students to draw their designs,
this process is a key component of our framework.
Research on young students’ design sketching in engineering
activities is in its infancy (e.g., Portsmore 2010;
Portsmore et al. 2012). Although research studies addressing
children’s engagement with design technology
(e.g., MacDonald and Gustafson 2004) provide some insights
into their abilities, the findings have been mixed.
For example, some studies have questioned whether children
should even be engaged in design drawing as they
would rather experiment with materials instead (e.g.,
Welch and Lim 2000). Other research (e.g., MacDonald
and Gustafson 2004) has even suggested that it is unnatural
for young students to develop designs until their
drawing skills are more developed. In contrast, there is research
demonstrating how young learners can create designs
that resemble their final products (e.g., Fleer 2000)
and can engage in planning processes in which design
sketching is a key component (e.g., Portsmore et al. 2012).
These inconclusive findings highlight the need for further
research on young students’ design sketching as a key
component of engineering-based problem solving.
We regard the comprehensive roles of design sketching,
as identified by Song and Agogino (2004), to be pertinent
to our work with young students. Specifically, a design
sketch includes all forms of displayed representations,
where the main features of an object or situation are conveyed
in efforts to “give external definition to an imagined,
or only half-imagined, suggestion for a design form” (p. 1).
Such representations enable new ideas to be readily “tried
out” on paper and can be subsequently re-examined and
revised at a later point. Furthermore, students’ design
sketches serve to store possible solutions and can reveal
whether constraints and criteria are likely to be met.
Through their initial sketches, students can generate new
ideas, develop conceptual STEM understanding, and
transform their sketches into a 3-D model. On model
testing, initial design sketches can be modified and
transformed into improved models.
An important feature of the present problem was students’
evaluation, documentation, and sharing of their
initial designs including their transformation into 3-D
models. These processes provide opportunities for students
to reveal the extent to which they identify, understand,
and link core concepts and principles within and
across the STEM disciplines (Lachapelle and Cunningham