This study explores students' initial engagement with ill-structured problems before and after the introduction of engineering problem typology as a framework for problem engagement and reflection. Using problem discussions, debrief interviews, and qualitative analysis of written artifacts, we considered observed changes to students' initial…

While project-based learning purportedly values student agency, supporting and managing this remains challenging. We conducted a design-based research study to understand how problem authenticity, and task and participant structures can contribute to students' framing agency, in which students make decisions that are consequential to their…

Contribution: The proposed operational model offers a detailed framework for understanding the complexities of design thinking. It helps instructors evaluate each stage, promoting the development of high-quality designs. This model emphasizes the link between the various stages and the final design quality, steering students toward achieving…

Contribution: This study identifies the skills required by the faculty to mentor first-year interdisciplinary design projects. The findings are compiled as a set of themes that can act as a guide for engineering educators in mentoring interdisciplinary design projects. Background: The National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) Engineer of 2020 report…

The intention of this article is to provide Technology and Engineering Educators (T&EEs) with a more thorough understanding of implementing the product realization process (PRP) to help manage the design and development processes in their classrooms. The product realization process (PRP) innately involves a practical combination of knowledge,…

Background: Design problems have long attracted researchers' attention for their potential to provide authentic learning opportunities. While we have methods for supporting students to learn through relatively simple engineering and design tasks, supporting students to address complex problems that they find and frame remains poorly understood.…

Contribution: This study identifies the attributes of complexity that can be incorporated into engineering design problems at first-year undergraduate engineering projects. The findings are compiled as a set of guidelines to aid engineering educators in crafting design problems. Background: Engineering professionals solve complex problems like…

Contribution: This research paper contributes to engineering education research with a framework for interdisciplinary learning outcomes based on students' experiences from participation in an interdisciplinary project for engineering students. A theoretical frame of reference is developed to analyze students' experience with interdisciplinary…

As more chemical engineering students enter careers beyond the field, students need more guidance in applying their problem solving skills to a challenges beyond the plant or refinery. Since Fall 2019, we have implemented case-based learning across our Material and Energy Balances course to help students practice chemical engineering thinking as a…

Engineering education must be changed following the change in the labor market. The cult of innovation has led to a demand for innovators who have both the mindset of an inventor who can see a problem and find a way to solve it, and the mindset of an entrepreneur who is ready to bring that solution to life. Thus, teaching a techno-innovator…

This study contributes to team science and competency development by comparing demonstrated teamwork skills by engineering students participating in disciplinary and cross-disciplinary team projects. Teamwork skills are key competencies necessary to solve complex technical challenges in the workplace. Despite prior efforts to enhance these…

This study aims to investigate affordances of models and modelling in design projects in technology education. To learn more about affordances when working with models and modelling, four Swedish technology teachers were interviewed using a narrative approach. Despite a small number of informants data were rich, containing detailed descriptions of…

This research describes a case study of an integrated human-computer interaction (HCI) course for construction engineering students using project-based learning and experiential learning cycle methods. To help engineering students keep pace with the increasing use of information technology (IT) in the construction industry, educational…

How to cultivate students' engineering practice ability in the digital manufacturing period is a difficult problem. This paper presents a finite element analysis experiment project for undergraduate students. The goals of implementing finite element modeling in this project are to enhance students' understanding of theoretical mechanics and to…

This paper highlights the design process and implementation for an "all majors" undergraduate course that allows students a chance to reconnect with the natural world. During this course students explore a wide range of biological and physical science based topics that seek to highlight human intervention and our impacts on the planet.…