Abstract—Efforts for recruiting and retaining students in
engineering programs are evident in many postsecondary
institutions around the world. These efforts include outreach
programs at both elementary and secondary school
level, as well as projects that develop capacities beyond
technical content—often taught as declarative and procedural
knowledge. The mandate of the Galileo Education
Network Association includes the design of rich learning
environments engaging K – 12 students in authentic tasks:
tasks that resemble the real work of professionals such as
engineers. We describe the experience of enacting a sevensession
engineering project in thermodynamics with Grade
Ten students. Special attention is paid to formative assessment
as an essential support for students' learning along the
project. The initial project resulted from the collaboration—
as a means for teacher professional development—between
this network association and the mathematics and science
teachers in a western Canadian high school. We propose
that programs for teacher professional development in
mathematics and science should include a focus on tasks
that resemble the work of engineering in order to design
authentic, engaging learning tasks, and assessing strategies
that support and enhance student learning
Index Terms—Authentic tasks, Inquiry-based, Projectbased,
Formative assessment.
I. INTRODUCTION