Student & Alumni Profiles

Araceli Martinez Ortiz

Hometown: Detroit, Michigan
Degrees: M.A., Education Administration & Leadership, Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan; M.S., Manufacturing Management, Kettering University, Flint, Michigan; B.S., Industrial & Operations Engineering, The University of Michigan

I joined the Tufts MSTE PhD program in January, 2004. Since then, I have completed my required coursework while building-in great learning and work experiences with national academic and research leaders in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education field: The Boston Museum of Science, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Leadership Initiatives for Teaching and Technology Program, and the Littleton Public Schools.

Through these interactions, my coursework and internships, I have directly experienced the broad political, social, curricular and learning issues which intersect and impact the state of STEM education.

I have begun to define a focused strand of research inquiry supported by my own pilot studies with children “engineering” which I plan to report on through my qualifying papers. My pilot studies have examined how elementary aged students involved in after-school and summer programs benefit from integrated engineering and mathematics learning experiences, using Sternberg's theory of triarchic intelligence as a theoretical framework. This theoretical framework is defined by three facets of intelligence development: analytical, creative and practical.- all facets which I propose may be further strengthened by learning and teaching academic content in an integrated manner with the engineering design process. To this perspective, I bring my own educational and professional learning experiences as a practicing engineer.

But I am most interested in how these ideas can uncover new teaching and learning approaches to support those students currently at greatest risk in the United States -- secondary students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups. I am therefore working on a dissertation proposal for a research project to include Latino secondary (6th-12th grade) students in Austin, Texas in 2007-2008.

The following are a preliminary set of research questions that will guide my inquiry:

• How are the three facets of intelligence - analytical, creative and practical – affected as measured for students participating in a semester-long engineering design learning experience?
• Is student comprehension of algebraic concepts improved when taught as an integrated component of an engineering design learning experience?
• Do Latino students participating in collaborative engineering design experiences demonstrate increased motivation in science, technology, engineering and math?