Designing the Future with Model Rocketry as Project-Based Learning

Outline

The following will repeat for the allotted time frame.

3-5 minutes: Discuss background and school settings of audience and presenter.

10-15 minutes: Demonstrate rocketry learning tasks in the learning management system, pass around student-built rockets for audience to examine, audience members can try out the Open Rocket modelling software and Perfect Flite data capture software on presenter's computer.

5-10 minutes: Discuss impact on instructional coaching and teacher practice.

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to: (1) find information and resources on rocket safety and skills training, (2) understand the instructional design principles used in creating a model rocketry learning program, (3) discuss ways that sponsoring a model rocketry program can help model instructional design for teachers.

Supporting research

Aerospace Industries Association. (2025, September 29). American Rocketry Challenge. https://rocketrychallenge.org/

Flynn, M. (2019). LAUNCH AND Deliver: The West Texas border town of Presidio is one of the poorest places in the state. So why does it have one of the best high school rocketry clubs in the country? Texas Monthly, 47(7), 64–72.

Hall, A., & Miro, D. (2016). A Study of Student Engagement in Project-Based Learning Across Multiple Approaches to STEM Education Programs. School Science & Mathematics, 116(6), 310–319. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12182

Horst, Ken. (2004). Model Rocketry in the 21st-Century Physics Classroom. Physics Teacher, 42(7), 394-397.

National Association of Rocketry. (2025, September 29). Educational Resources. https://www.nar.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=114127&module_id=669619

Santhosh, M., Farooqi, H., Ammar, M., Siby, N., Bhadra, J., Al-Thani, N. J., Sellami, A., Fatima, N., & Ahmad, Z. (2023). A Meta-Analysis to Gauge the Effectiveness of STEM Informal Project-Based Learning: Investigating the Potential Moderator Variables. Journal of Science Education & Technology, 32(5), 671–685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-023-10063-y

Severance, S., Miller, E. A., & Krajcik, J. (2024). IF science AND making AND computing: Insights for project-based learning and primary science curriculum design. Studies in Science Education, 61(2), 173–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2024.2397300

Sircar, M., Orr, S., Madis, C., & DiMaria, S. (2024). Conceptualizing an Initial Framework to Support Discipline-Rich Project-Based Learning in STEM. Education Sciences, 14(7), 793. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070793