Teaching STEM: How ‘Charlotte’s Web’ can teach third graders about the engineering process

Thinking like an engineer — also known as design-based learning or the engineering design process (EDP) — will be coming to Texas public schools in the next couple of years.

For the last several years, Julie Jackson, associate professor, and Shelly Forsythe, assistant professor, in the Texas State University College of Education have been researching and writing about this subject in academic publications.

Texas schools will be following what other U.S. states and school districts have already adopted for their science curriculum. In 2013, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) introduced the idea of engineering design as an essential element of science education.