BioRobots design conjecture: studying biological organisms supports understanding of structure–function relationships, which supports engineering design and CT practices

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 design), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

The BioRobots project rests on a design conjecture (Sandoval, 2014) that "studying biological organisms will support student understanding of structure–function relationships," and that using this understanding to design a robot will support student practices in engineering design and computational thinking. Conjectured embodiments and mediating processes follow from this conjecture, and the conjecture map was revised in Y3 to reflect evolving thinking about alignment of science, engineering, and CT practices.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• A design task that requires students to create a conceptual model of the animal structure–function relationship by decomposing the animal system and extracting relevant principles

Constraints

• The conjecture was tested in 3- to 4-week middle school implementations in science, engineering, enrichment, and after-school settings

Target Learners

• middle school students in science, engineering, enrichment, and after-school programs

Learning Goals

• understanding of structure–function relationships in biology and engineering
• engineering design practices
• computational thinking practices such as decomposition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking

Claims

• Y3 Deeper Analysis Guided Design [+M]
• Y2 Narrowed Design Task Supported Discipline Driven Design [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Debra Bernstein, Gillian Puttick, Kristen Wendell, Fayette Shaw, Ethan Danahy, Michael Cassidy. (2022). Designing biomimetic robots: iterative development of an integrated technology design curriculum. Education Tech Research Dev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10061-0

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	biorobots-design-conjecture
title	BioRobots design conjecture: studying biological organisms supports understanding of structure–function relationships, which supports engineering design and CT practices
description	The BioRobots project rests on a design conjecture (Sandoval, 2014) that "studying biological organisms will support student understanding of structure–function relationships," and that using this understanding to des...
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-29
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — debra-bernstein-2022

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