We’re exploring engineering habits of mind on the EiE Blog, and this week’s topic is the habit of “thinking flexibly and exploring multiple solutions.” Which brings to mind an experience I had at the EiE retreat last fall.

Retreats give us a chance to test new engineering activities that we might include in our curricula. This time, we tried out a biomedical engineering design challenge for Engineering Everywhere, our afterschool curriculum for middle-schoolers.

All this month on the EiE blog, we’re using short videos that capture candid moments in elementary classrooms to look at how kids develop “engineering habits of mind” (ways of thinking that support lifelong learning). Today we look at the habit of “applying science knowledge to solve a problem through engineering."

UPenn psychologist Angela Duckworth launched a media frenzy with her 2013 TED Talk on “grit.” This trait, she asserted, is essential for school success; students who have grit stay motivated in the face of adversity and even outright failure.

This month on the EiE Blog we’re sharing candid videos from elementary classrooms that show how early experience with engineering helps students develop “engineering habits of mind,” or ways of thinking that can be the foundation for lifelong learning. Today we focus on a habit of mind that some sociologists call “agency.”