Making Engineering Real supports professional learning for K-5 educators in the Commonwealth of Virginia to integrate engineering, digital technologies, and systems thinking into instruction, design and implement lessons to support students' engineering design, use of technology, and system's thinking, and receive feedback on engineering design and technology-integrated units. The PD also includes academic year in-classroom coach support, and follow-up PD including opportunities for reflection and feedback from peers, coaches, and instructors.

The ME-REAL project will advance our understanding of (1) pedagogies (e.g., digital technology integration) and engineering contexts that support elementary students’ systems-thinking, (2) PD that facilitates teachers’ systems thinking, engineering understandings, and digital technology use, and (3) the extent to which attending to teachers’ beliefs during PD promotes instructional change and innovation adoption.