A Comparative Study on Undergraduate and Practicing Engineer Knowledge of the Roles of Problem Definition and Idea Generati
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-College Senior |
| Discipline(s): |
Aerospace Engineering Computer Science Engineering Education Research General Engineering, Engineering Science Information Systems Information Technology International Engineering Education |
| Special Topic(s): | |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Educational Research Paper |
| Media Type: |
Audio |
| Author(s): |
REID BAILEY |
| Description: | Int. J. Engng Ed. Vol. 24, No. 2, 2, pp. 226-233, 2008. Special issue on Design and Engineering Education in a Flat World. Abstract: "This major shiftÐfrom engineers collaborating and competing within a fairly limited region to engineers collaborating and competing around the worldÐwill require engineers to possess different knowledge to be successful. Two areas of design knowledge that are becoming more important due to globalization are problem definition and idea generation. These areas of knowledge are cited as being important because they rely on `right-brain' thinking in addition to analytical know-how, a combination that is more difficult to offshore. In this study, knowledge of the roles of problem definition and idea generation in engineering design is assessed over time: subjects are assessed before any college-level engineering, during their engineering education, and five or more years after starting to practice engineering. The primary assessment instrument involves subjects critiquing a proposed design process; their critiques are then analysed to determine what they know about the roles of problem definition and idea generation in design. Results show that no significant learning about problem definition occurs until an undergraduate's senior year, with large gains also made after graduation by practicing engineers. For idea generation, students learn a significant amount while enrolled in an introduction to engineering course, but lose this knowledge later during the curriculum." |
| Rating: |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | Engineering design; engineering education; global economy; problem definition; idea generation flat world global engineering |
| Is Component of: |
Design and Engineering Education in a Flat World |
| Usage Tip | |
| Related ABET Criteria: |
(b) Design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data (h) Understand global, economic, environmental, and societal context |
| Use of Resource: |
Conclusions: "With respect to understanding the role of problem definition in design, we show that addressing this topic for one term with first-year students and then not addressing it again until the senior year is not effective. The data suggest that significant learning about the role of problem definition does not occur until the capstone course. Continual work each semester from the first term forward, however, could prove to be effective (such a curriculum is not studied here). There is weak evidence that multidisciplinary capstone projects improve knowledge about the role of problem definition more than single disciplinary capstone projects. Further exploration of this topic is warranted. With respect to understanding the role of idea generation in design, first-year design students can make great gains in knowledgeýleading to knowledge that matches the knowledge of practicing engineers. Unfortunately, this knowledge regresses to pre-first-year levels by the time students start their senior capstone experienceýthis regression is particularly true for students obtaining industrial experience. The capstone course is not enough to reverse this decrease in knowledge. A successful change for a curriculum with respect to idea generation would find a way to maintain the knowledge gained during the first semester straight through to graduation. A curriculum in which design was integrated throughout each term would be a strong candidate to accomplish this goal." |
| Difficulty: |
Medium |
| Interactivity Level: |
Very low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | March 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
Cross Platform |
| Cost: |
Not free |
| Download URL: | http://www.ijee.dit.ie/latestissues/Vol24-2/s5_ijee2054.pdf |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
International Journal of Engineering Education
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