This quintet of ‘E’ words form the core of the 5Es lesson plans. They probably appeared first in the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study of the 1980s based on work by Atkin and Karplus . They form a series of headings for constructing your lesson or lecture plan. This framework has been used to construct all of the lesson plans posted on this blog [https://realizeengineering.blog/everyday-engineering-examples/]. Since the lesson plans are designed for introductory engineering courses, the Engage step always incorporates an Everyday Engineering Example. I have amended the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the 5Es below to illustrate the content of each step.
- Engage – to attract and hold fast [the students’ attention]
- Explore – to look into closely, scrutinize, to pry into [the topic of the lesson]
- Explain – to unfold, to make plain or intelligible [the principle underpinning the topic]
- Elaborate – to work out in detail [an exemplar employing the principle]
- Evaluate – to reckon up, ascertain the amount of [knowledge and understanding acquired by the students]
The combination of 5Es and E cubed [Everyday Engineering Example] works well. We found that they increased student participation and understanding as well as attracting higher student ratings of lecturers and the course [Campbell et al. 2008].
Atkin JM & Karplus R, Discovery or invention? Science Teacher 29(5): 45, 1962.
Little W, Fowler HW, Coulson J & Onions CT, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Guild Publishing, London, 1983.
Campbell PB, Patterson EA, Busch Vishniac I & Kibler T, Integrating Applications in the Teaching of Fundamental Concepts, Proc. 2008 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, (AC 2008-499), 2008.
CALE #5 [Creating A Learning Environment: a series of posts based on a workshop given periodically by Pat Campbell and Eann Patterson in the USA supported by NSF and the UK supported by HEA]