EXPLORING THE USE OF DESIGN THINKING AS A STRATEGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM-SOLVING IN POST-SECONDARY CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Léger ◽  
Anne-Marie Laroche ◽  
Diane Pruneau
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Post Secondary

scholarly journals Factors Contributing to the Problem-Solving Heuristics of Civil Engineering Students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Gestson ◽  
Shane Brown ◽  
Matthew Barner ◽  
Masoud Ghodrat Abadi ◽  
David Hurwitz
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Civil Engineering

scholarly journals Students’ Consciousness of their Problem Solving Approaches as a Key to Creativity in Design

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Marwa Hassan Khalil
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Architectural Engineering ◽  
Problem Solving Process

Architectural engineering students are constantly dealing with ill-defined and tangled design problems. Many scholars accentuated the importance of creative thinking in tackling such wicked and complex problems. Accordingly, getting engaged in an ill-defined problem solving process requires specific personality traits that are often critical to creativity and innovation in design. In that sense, architectural engineering curricula need to provide various strategies through which such individual skills can be nurtured and developed. The objective of this study is to empirically identify the different patterns of students’ approaches in solving problems and the role of group discussions in such a process. The study adopted a qualitative approach, in a live class setup, through a series of workshops to allow for in-depth exploration of the students’ problem solving skills and abilities. The intention is to help students in discovering and in being aware of their own way of solving problems and identifying its strengths and weaknesses. This is considered a core and significant step towards the improvement and development of their design thinking skills. The findings of the study have emphasized the positive impact of the cyclical behavior in the creative problem solving process and highlighted the different key issues and lessons emerging from students’ consciousness of the mental processes that occurred during this iterative process. Such awareness and consciousness of those emergent issues is expected to encourage conscious design, increase tolerance for ambiguity and improve self-confidence which are believed to dramatically help students in creatively solving ill-defined architectural design problems.

scholarly journals AN ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSE TO DEVELOP AND ASSESS CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Mulligan ◽  
Natalie Simper ◽  
Nerissa Mulligan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Learning Assessment ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Practice Sequence

A challenging new engineering design course is developed as part of the Engineering Design and Practice Sequence in the Civil Engineering program. This course engages students in a cyclical design process where they plan, build, test, and evaluate a model-scale tidal current turbine. They then use their own observations and analysis to iteratively inform, improve and re-test their design.The two objectives of this paper are to provide a description of the development and structure of this design course, and to assess student learning. The Final Design Reports were externally evaluated using the Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education rubrics. Students also completed a standardized test called the Collegiate Learning Assessment as an objective evaluation of longitudinal learning gains. The Civil Engineering students demonstrated significant improvement in critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills.

scholarly journals PUZZLE-BASED LEARNING: AN APPROACH TO CREATIVITY, DESIGN THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING. IMPLICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy A Costa
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Exploratory Analysis ◽  
First Year ◽  
Critical Problem ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Degree

This paper will explore research practices already being conducted in various institutions, strengthening this paper's position that puzzle-based learning is a foundational methodology which assists newly admitted undergraduate engineering students, how to best approach critical problem solving. Furthermore, this paper will provide recommendations for an introductory protocol to introduce the incorporation of puzzle-based learning into a seminar-style course for First Year Introductory Engineering, and as a component of the engineering degree. The paper results in an exploratory analysis of what could be a starting place for future studies or classes to be conducted.

scholarly journals PREREQUISITE EVALUATION OF ENGINEERING SKILLS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard J. Poitras ◽  
Eric G. Poitras
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Program ◽  
Problem Instances ◽  
Over Time

Preliminary findings obtained from a three-year study are presented where different cohorts of undergraduate civil engineering students are followed for three consecutive years while completing the Civil Engineering program at the Université de Moncton. This study outlines how a set of problem instances were developed, wherein a student performs a series of steps to formulate a solution. These steps are mapped to one or more skills, also known as procedural knowledge components, which are essential for students to have mastered from one or more previous courses in order to successfully complete the course in question. Over a hundred students from the second, third, or fourth year performed a series of problem-solving tasks that assess a common set of skills at the beginning of their respected courses. The findings obtained from the first year of this study show that students vary in their abilities to correctly solve instances of a problem on their first attempt. This suggests that there is a pressing need for assessment tools that target progressions for specific courses using the range of standards outlined by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board as progress indicators while providing individualized instructional modules developed on the basis of research-based understanding of how these skills develop over time for all students.

First-Year Engineering Computing Courses in Canadian Engineering Programs

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Maw ◽  
Janice Miller Young ◽  
Alexis Morris
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
First Year ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Digital Computation ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
Introductory Computing

Most Canadian engineering students take a computing course in their first year that introduces them to digital computation. The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board does not specify the language(s) that can or should be used for instruction. As a result, a variety of languages are used across Canada. This study examines which languages are used in degree-granting institutions, currently and in the recent past. It also examines why institutions have chosen the languages that they currently use. In addition to the language used in instruction, the types and hours of instruction are also analyzed. Methods of instruction and evaluation are compared, as well as the pedagogical philosophies of the different programs with respect to introductory computing. Finally, a comparison of the expected value of this course to graduates is also presented. We found a more diverse landscape for introductory computing courses than anticipated, in most respects. The guiding ethos at most institutions is skill and knowledge development, especially around problem solving in an engineering context. The methods to achieve this are quite varied, and so are the languages employed in such courses. Most programs currently use C/C++, Matlab, VB and/or Python.

Inclusion by Design: A 75-Minute Crash Course on Accessible Design

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 831-835
Author(s):  
Julian Brinkley ◽  
Earl W. Huff
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Inclusive Design ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Creative Problem ◽  
Community Of Researchers ◽  
Minute Session

The community of researchers supporting instruction on design thinking has a significant body of materials to help students understand and master the process of creative problem solving in design. Missing, we argue are materials and processes which directly support the design of inclusive technologies for persons with disabilities. We present ‘Inclusion by Design’, an interactive and participative crash course designed to introduce students to techniques that may be useful in an inclusive design process. In a single 75-minute session, students explore the inclusive design of a transportation technology for a visually impaired persona. We report on our findings from a single pilot of the crash course involving six diverse students within a graduate course on Inclusive Design. Our findings suggest that the course may be effective in introducing techniques like storyboarding, scenario creation, and low fidelity prototyping to students using an approach that may be effective for various learning styles.

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