Moving beyond formulas and fixations: solving open-ended engineering problems

Douglas, Elliot P.; Koro‐Ljungberg, Mirka; McNeill, Nathan; Malcolm, Zaria; Therriault, David J.

doi:10.1080/03043797.2012.738358

Cited by 68 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Specifically, this work captured student variation in seven discrete categories that varied by students' reactions to ambiguity and their use of multiple perspectives. While prior work has shown that there is variation in how students perceive their project experiences (Atman et al, ; Courter et al, ; Douglas et al, ; McNeill, Douglas, Koro‐Ljungberg, Therriault, & Krause, ), this work provides a more nuanced characterization of the detailed variation in student experience.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Experiences of First‐Year Engineering Students Working on Ill‐Structured Problems in Teams

Dringenberg

Purzer

2018

J of Engineering Edu

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Background As engineers solve problems that are ill‐structured and require collaboration, a common goal of engineering programs is to develop students' competencies for solving such problems in teams, often using cornerstone design experiences. Purpose With the goal of designing effective learning environments, this study identifies qualitatively different ways that engineering students experienced ill‐structured problems while working in teams. Design/Method This phenomenographic study employs interview data from 27 first‐year engineering students. Iterative data analysis resulted in categories of student experiences and their logical relationships. Results Seven categories describing collaborative, ill‐structured problem‐solving experiences emerged: completion, transition, iteration, organization, collaboration, reasoning, and growth. These categories are organized in an outcome space along dimensions we call reaction to ambiguity and use of multiple perspectives that can be used to frame students' perspectives from less comprehensive to more comprehensive. Conclusions First‐year engineering students experience team‐based, ill‐structured problem solving in a variety of ways. The resulting outcome space is of practical use to educators who teach courses involving collaborative, ill‐structured problem solving.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Experiences of First‐Year Engineering Students Working on Ill‐Structured Problems in Teams

Dringenberg

Purzer

2018

J of Engineering Edu

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“…A number of pedagogical approaches that attempt to bridge this gap have been proposed, e.g., collaborative learning [8], team based learning [9], problem-and project-based learning [10], open-ended problem solving [6], open-ended group projects [11]. Reports from using such approaches typically convey increased student motivation and enhanced learning regarding both content knowledge and competence development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…OECD [1], ACM [2], US National Academy [3], Danish Engineers union [4], and IEEE [5], and educational degree programs typically include as overarching goals that the graduates have developed a variety of such competencies. One of the most important areas of competence for professional engineers is the ability to function well in project work, in particular they need to be able to efficiently solve open-ended problems in different collaborative settings [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Open-ended projects opened up — aspects of openness

Nylén

Daniels

Isomöttönen

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)

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Abstract-One of the most important areas of competence for professional engineers is the ability to function well in project work, in particular they need to be able to efficiently solve open-ended problems in different collaborative settings. The development of this ability is however not prominent in engineering education despite numerous authors suggesting openended problems as a pedagogical tool to promote development of collaborative problem solving competence by including elements of group or project work in courses. In our own long experience of using open-ended problems in collaborative student projects, we have identified a lack of systematic progression in learning outcomes and skill development. We see this as a major obstacle for fully exploiting the potentials of using open-ended problems as an educational tool. We present a framework that provides a structured view of challenges related to openness that students can encounter in educational projects and that has an impact on the overall complexity of the project. We argue that there are different categories of openness to consider when designing educational settings based on open-ended projects. The categories addressed in this paper are: Character of the problems addressed. Character of the teams. Time constraints. Faculty involvement. External factors. Aspects of openness in the different categories are presented and related to professional engineering competencies. Furthermore, it is discussed how variations in project complexity can be accomplished by variations within the aspects and combinations of aspects. In particular, the framework addresses development and progression of professional competencies.

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“…In an EPS project, the problem is not well defined, alternative solutions have to be identified, studied and proposed and the technologies to use are undefined, since open-ended problem solving is a central skill in engineering practice, and consequently, it is imperative for engineering students to develop expertise in solving these types of problems (Douglas et al 2012). The focus of the project is more holistic, encompassing the sustainability and marketing areas.…”

Section: Coachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Project Semester at ISEP: the challenge of educating global engineers

Malheiro

Silva

Ribeiro

et al. 2014

European Journal of Engineering Education

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Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European Credit Transfer Units (ECTU)) for engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities that intends to address these goals. The students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real multidisciplinary problems during one semester. The EPS package, although on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). Hence, the students enrolled in this programme improve their transversal skills and learn, together and with the team of supervisors, subjects distinct from their core training. This paper presents the structure, implementation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering practices and promote internationalisation and engineering education innovation at ISEP.

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Moving beyond formulas and fixations: solving open-ended engineering problems

Cited by 68 publications

References 43 publications

Experiences of First‐Year Engineering Students Working on Ill‐Structured Problems in Teams

Experiences of First‐Year Engineering Students Working on Ill‐Structured Problems in Teams

Open-ended projects opened up — aspects of openness

The European Project Semester at ISEP: the challenge of educating global engineers

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