Development Of An Evaluation Tool For Engineering Habits Of Mind Of 5-6 Year Olds In The Context Of Block Play

With the rapid development of science and technology,the cultivation of high-quality engineering and technical talents is becoming increasingly important.As a key quality in the field of engineering,engineering habits of mind are considered to be related to the development of children’s multiple abilities.At the same time,research at home and abroad has confirmed that block play is an ideal platform to stimulate and support the development of children’s engineering habits of mind.However,at present,the relevant research on engineering habits of mind in preschool stage is still weak,and its specific connotation and elements in preschool field are not clear,and there is a lack of systematic and effective evaluation tools.Therefore,this study takes the engineering habits of mind as the starting point,selects the block play as the background,and takes 5-6 years old children as the object to develop the evaluation tool,in order to enrich the relevant theories of early engineering and support the relevant educational practice.This study first combed and analyzed the relevant connotation and elements of engineering habits of mind,and through the observation of 10 groups of building block construction activities,and the two rounds of Delphi consultation and analysis of 14 theoretical and practical experts in the field of engineering and pre-school,initially formed the use instructions and scoring scale of the tool.Secondly,200 children aged 5-6 years old were taken as the object,and the tools were revised and verified by using the methods of project analysis,exploratory factor analysis,confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis,and finally the "Evaluation Tool for Engineering Habits of mind of 5-6 Years Old Children in the Background of Block Play" was formed.The research conclusions are as follows:(1)The tool consists of two parts: instructions and scoring scale.The use instructions describe the use background and the scoring scale includes five dimensions,including systems thinking,creativity,optimism,collabration and communication,and attention to ethical considerations.There are 12 indicators under the five dimensions.(2)The tool has good reliability and validity.In terms of reliability,the internal consistency coefficient is 0.91,and the consistency reliability of raters is 0.92;In terms of validity,the correlation coefficient between each dimension and the total score is between 0.60 and 0.89,and the correlation coefficient between each dimension is between 0.30 and 0.80.The x2/df value of children’s engineering thinking habits model is 2.166,the CFI value is 0.941,the TLI value is 0.911,and the RMSEA value is 0.081.Based on the process of tool development in the study and the relevant thinking generated therefrom,this study proposes four educational suggestions to support educational practice,including: focusing on the procedural performance of young children in building block games;Breaking down barriers to engineering understanding and establishing bridges for early childhood development;Integrating engineering thinking habits to promote the overall development of young children;Emphasize the application value of engineering design process in education.