As engineers gain experience and become experts in their domain, the structure and content of their knowledge changes. Two studies are presented that examine differences in knowledge representation among freshman and senior engineering students. The first study examines recall of mechanical devices and chunking of components, and the second…

Despite the importance accorded to helping students make conceptual connections and arrive at a more sophisticated understanding of how ideas, concepts, theories, and explanations interact with and inform one another, educators have few maps to help them describe the process by which students learn to make these connections. Through skill theory,…