Conclusions: The study supports research indicating young learners’ potential for early engineering. Students can
engage in design and redesign processes, applying their STEM disciplinary knowledge in doing so. An appropriate
balance is needed between teacher input of new concepts and students’ application of this learning in ways they
choose. For example, scaffolding by the teacher about how to improve designs for increased detail could be
included in subsequent experiences. Such input could enhance students’ application of STEM disciplinary
knowledge in the redesign process. We offer our framework of design processes for younger learners as one way to
approach early engineering education with respect to both the creation of rich problem experiences and the
analysis of their learning.