In undergraduate mathematics education, atypical problem solving approaches are usually discouraged because they are not adaptive to systematic deduction on which undergraduate instructional systems are predicated. I present preliminary qualitative research evidence that indicates that these atypical approaches, such as genetic guessing, which…

The following study investigates the range of strategies individuals develop to infer and interpret cross-sections of three-dimensional objects. We focus on the identification of mental representations and problem-solving processes made by 11 individuals with the goal of building training applications that integrate the strategies developed by the…

Initiatives to integrate engineering design in the elementary science classroom have become increasingly evident in both national reform documents and classroom practice. Missing from these efforts is a purposeful attempt to capture students' designerly thinking and dialogues as they engage in the process. The purpose of this study was to…

This paper presents a case study of how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) may facilitate collective meaning-making processes in group work in engineering education. In the case, first-year students attended group-work sessions as an organised part of a basic physics course at a Norwegian university college. Each student group was equipped with an…

The need for more engineers equipped with new skill sets is essential for ensuring our national security, climate sustainability, and maintaining our position as a global leader in innovation and as an economic world power. The design challenges engineers face increasingly require a human-centered, creative, practical, and systems-based approach…

Recent engineering industry-based research has identified a number of skill deficiencies in graduating engineers. Emphasis on communication and teamwork informed by attributes of self management, problem solving and mutual accountability have been recognized as important needs by The Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET of the United…

A cognitive construct that is important when solving engineering design problems is executive control process, or metacognition. It is a central feature of human consciousness that enables one "to be aware of, monitor, and control mental processes." The framework for this study was conceptualized by integrating the model for creative design, which…

Engineering education focuses chiefly on students' ability to solve problems. While most engineering students are proficient in solving paper questions, they may not be proficient at providing optimal solutions to pragmatic project-based problems that require systematic learning strategy, innovation, problem-solving, and execution. The…

This research was conducted to evaluate the learning experience of Grade Ten students from two Malaysian rural secondary schools that adopted the integration of STEM in an Engineering Design Process (STEM-EDP) approach vis-á-vis an outreach challenge program. A total of 89 students undertook a ten hour program which engaged them in designing and…

In 2014, Monsanto Corporation partnered with National 4-H Council to help inspire and develop professional skills among young agriculturalists. The Ohio State University created Fish Farm Challenge, which engaged more than 8,000 youth across eight states. Youth were taught about worldwide food insecurity and the importance of aquaculture. They…

The presented study used a problem-solving experience in engineering design with LEGO robotics materials as the real-world mathematics-learning context. The goals of the study were (a) to determine if a short but intensive extracurricular learning experience would lead to significant student learning of a particular academic topic and (b) to…

Problem solving skills and abilities are critical in life and more specifically in the engineering field. Unfortunately, significant numbers of South African students who are accessing higher education lack problem solving skills and this results in poor academic performance jeopardizing their progress especially from first to second year. On the…

This study sought to find student perceptions of how the engineering design process is learned and applied by pre-service teachers at the University of Georgia. The course description read "demonstration and hands-on learning, including problem solving, designing, construction and testing of prototypes, and activities that increase aesthetic,…

The flipped classroom model is an innovative educational trend that has been widely adopted in the social sciences but not engineering education. In this model, an active instructional approach shifts the educational strategy from a teacher- to a student-centred approach. The purpose of this study is to compare the learning outcomes of engineering…

This paper describes a student-centered approach to a power engineering technology course using the flipped or inverted classroom as well as active learning in the form of group discussions and team problem solving. The study compares student performance and perceptions of a traditional, teaching-centered classroom to two different flipped…