scholarly journals "Thus, I had to go with what I had": A Multiple Methods Exploration of Novice Designers' Articulation of Prototyping Decisions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McComb ◽  
Jessica Menold ◽  
Catherine Berdanier ◽  
Emma Hocker ◽  
Lisa Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Model ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Communication Tools ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Novice Designers ◽  
Difficult Challenge ◽  
The Relationship

Effectively communicating designs to stakeholders or end users is a critical step in the design process yet can be a difficult challenge for engineers. Prototypes are unique tools that can enhance communication between these two groups, as prototypes are physical manifestations of the designer’s mental model. Previous work has demonstrated that novice designers often struggle to use prototypes as communication tools. We argue that it is critical that engineering students learn to fully leverage prototypes, and thus the current work sought to understand the relationship between argumentation, prototyping, and design decisions. In order to understand the communication patterns of novice designers during a prototyping task, a controlled study was conducted with a total of 46 undergraduate engineering students. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data point to the intricate linkages between how students make material decisions and how they justify those decisions.

scholarly journals “Thus, I Had to Go With What I Had”: A Multiple Methods Exploration of Novice Designers’ Articulation of Prototyping Decisions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Menold ◽  
Catherine Berdanier ◽  
Christopher McComb ◽  
Emma Hocker ◽  
Lisa Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Model ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Communication Tools ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Novice Designers ◽  
Difficult Challenge ◽  
The Relationship

Effectively communicating designs to stakeholders or end users is a critical step in the design process yet can be a difficult challenge for engineers. Prototypes are unique tools that can enhance communication between these two groups, as prototypes are physical manifestations of the designer’s mental model. Previous work has demonstrated that novice designers often struggle to use prototypes as communication tools. We argue that it is critical that engineering students learn to fully leverage prototypes, and thus the current work sought to understand the relationship between argumentation, prototyping, and design decisions. In order to understand the communication patterns of novice designers during a prototyping task, a controlled study was conducted with a total of 46 undergraduate engineering students. The analysis of quantitative and qualitative data point to the intricate linkages between how students make material decisions and how they justify those decisions.

scholarly journals NOVICE DESIGNERS' USE OF PROTOTYPES AS COMMUNICATION TOOLS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2277-2286
Author(s):  
Sandeep Krishnakumar ◽  
Carlye Lauff ◽  
Christopher McComb ◽  
Catherine Berdanier ◽  
Jessica Menold
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Communication Tools ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Novice Designers ◽  
Future Work

AbstractPrototypes are critical design artifacts, and recent studies have established the ability of prototypes to facilitate communication. However, prior work suggests that novice designers often fail to perceive prototypes as effective communication tools, and struggle to rationalize design decisions made during prototyping tasks. To understand the interactions between communication and prototypes, design pitches from 40 undergraduate engineering design teams were collected and qualitatively analysed. Our findings suggest that students used prototypes to explain and persuade, aligning with prior studies of design practitioners. The results also suggest that students tend to use prototypes to justify design decisions and adverse outcomes. Future work will seek to understand novice designers’ use of prototypes as communication tools in further depth. Ultimately, this work will inform the creation of pedagogical strategies to provide students with the skills needed to effectively communicate design solutions and intent.

Lost in Translation: Examining the Complex Relationship Between Prototyping and Communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Krishnakumar ◽  
Catherine Berdanier ◽  
Christopher McComb ◽  
Jessica Menold
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Rhetorical Patterns ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Novice Designers ◽  
Design Ideas ◽  
Lost In Translation

Abstract Prototyping plays a pivotal role in the engineering design process. Prototypes represent physical or digital manifestations of design ideas, and as such act as effective communication tools for designers. While the benefits of prototyping are well-documented in research, the fundamental ways in which the construction of a prototype affects designers' reflection on and evaluation of their design outcomes and processes are not well understood. The relationships between prototypes, designers' communication strategies, and recollection of design processes is of particular interest in this work, as preliminary research suggests that novice designers tend to struggle to clearly articulate the decisions made during the design process. This work serves to extend prior work and build foundational knowledge by exploring the evaluation of design outcomes and decisions, and communication strategies used by novice designers during prototyping tasks. A controlled in situ study was conducted with 45 undergraduate engineering students. Results from qualitative analyses suggest that a number of rhetorical patterns emerged in students' communications, suggesting that a complicated relationship exists between prototyping and communication.

Interpersonal Variables and Their Impact on the Perceived Validity of Peer Assessment in Engineering PBL

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Mark Symes ◽  
Anna Carew ◽  
Dev Ranmuthugala
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Peer Assessment ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Value Diversity ◽  
The Relationship

Intra-team peer assessments have become the norm for performance and attribute assessment in problem and project based learning activities. However, research on the effects of interpersonal variables on these assessment practices is limited. This study examined the relationship between interpersonal variables and student perceptions on the validity of peer assessment. In order to understand the relationship between social interaction and its effects on peer assessment, four interpersonal variables were identified in this study: psychological safety, value diversity, interdependence, and trust. Fifty five undergraduate engineering students working in teams of 5 to 6 participated in a survey after having completed their first formative peer assessment. Preliminary findings from this study and evidence from other studies support the view that interpersonal variables have the potential to affect peer assessment and influence the learning outcomes.

The Use of Qualitative Data Analysis for the Evaluation of Design Ethnography Training Among Undergraduate Engineering Students

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Lai ◽  
Tara Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Qualitative Data Analysis ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering

Abstract While qualitative data analysis (QDA) is an established method in education research, QDA is less common in engineering research and may be a challenge for engineering faculty not formally trained in qualitative methods to apply it in engineering education. The following describes the collaborative effort between an engineering design instructor and an anthropologist who used QDA to evaluate the implementation of design ethnography training in a third-year biomedical engineering design course. In their partnership, the study investigators examined student perspectives regarding design ethnography training and how such training in an engineering curriculum may prepare students for careers in biomedical design. Data for the study consisted of reflective essays (N = 42) that the students completed following two primary exercises dedicated to design ethnography skills training. Investigators input typed and anonymized text files of the student essays into ATLAS.ti X7, a qualitative data analysis software program, for qualitative content analysis. QDA was conducted using the constant comparison method to inductively identify pertinent themes. Throughout the QDA process, the investigators routinely met to discuss, merge and interpret themes as needed. Upon the finalization of themes, researchers re-reviewed the data using the finalized codebook (a list of themes and their definitions) for coding reliability. This regular contact was invaluable for the engineering instructor, providing instruction on the process necessary for proper application of QDA. The unique partnership between investigators offered the engineering design instructor the opportunity to evaluate engineering student perceptions of a new curriculum implementation in an in-depth manner not commonly attempted in engineering education. Results from the QDA showed that the incorporation of design ethnography skills training into an engineering design curriculum increased student awareness of the value of ethnography in understanding user environments while offering engineering students the opportunity to develop better observation skills. This study was successful not only in demonstrating efficacy of design ethnography training among undergraduate engineering students, but it also serves as an example of how QDA may be applied by engineering instructors for the evaluation of student experience and work in engineering education.

scholarly journals A measured educational experience developing creativity with graduate and undergraduate engineering students

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Morinc ◽  
Jean-Marc Robert ◽  
Liane Gabora
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Creative Performance ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
Design Assessment ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Before And After

Creative and innovative people are recognized for their contribution to society’s wellbeing. Engineers are often called upon to produce innovative ideas and thus participate in the improvement of their organization’s products, services, and processes. Not aiming at educating specialists with a degree in creativity, we nonetheless believe future engineers could benefit from a deliberate development of their creative abilities. However, building an effective and valid course to develop participants’ creativity is not without challenges.This paper describes an innovative cognitive approach to enhance creativity as well as the pedagogical strategies underlining a creativity course for engineering students. It also presents the pre-post results measured with a revised version of the CEDA (Creative Engineering Design Assessment). We evaluated the creative performance of 59 students before and after a 45-hour creativity course. Quantitative data shows statistically higher numbers after the course than before. Qualitative data provides further evidence of the course’s relevance and effectiveness.We conclude that students’ creativity can be increase and that the course enables a better understanding of creativity and how to foster it.

Teaching practicum and the development of professional and pedagogical knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
Minerva Rosas ◽  
Verónica Ormeño ◽  
Cristian Ruiz-Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Pedagogical Knowledge ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching Programme ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

To assess the progressive teaching practicums included in an English Teaching Programme at a Chilean university, 60 former student-teachers answered a questionnaire with both Likert-scale and open-ended questions. The issues assessed included the relationship between the progressive teaching practicums and the curriculum’s modules and sequence, and the skills developed while implementing innovation projects during the student-teachers’ two final practicums. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses allowed us to identify both strengths and weaknesses. The participants highlighted strengths in the areas of teaching strategies, critical thinking skills and professional and pedagogical knowledge. Among the weaknesses, they identified limited supervision and feedback, and diverging views on teaching education between the university and the schools as the most difficult to deal with. These findings may be useful for introducing improvements in Initial Teacher Education aimed at reducing problems and discrepancies and devising suitable induction processes.

HOW STUDENTS DEFINE THEIR SUCCESS: A RESEARCH STUDY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Ullrich ◽  
David S. Strong
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Survey Instrument ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Full Study ◽  
Definition Of Success ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Diverse Groups

How undergraduate engineering students define their success and plan for their future differs notably amongst students. With a push for greater diversity and inclusion in engineering schools, it is valuable to also better understand the differences in these areas among different students to allow institutions to better serve the needs of these diverse groups.  The purpose of this research study is to explore students’ definition of success both in the present and projecting forward 5 to 10 years, as well as to understand to what level students reflect on, and plan for, the future. The proposed survey instrument for the pilot stage of this research includes 56 closed-ended questions and 3 open-ended questions. Evidence for the validity of the research instrument is established through a mixed-method pilot study. This paper will discuss the survey instrument, the pilot study, and outline plans for the full study.

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