This dissertation contains findings from two research projects. The first research area focused on assessing engineering students problem solving skills. Problem solving related to two material and energy balance topics--vapor liquid equilibrium and reacting systems with recycle - were examined first followed by a more holistic analysis across two…

A concern in engineering education is students adopting a 'recognise and reproduce' approach to problem solving. In this study, an assignment was conceived and analysed through Legitimation Code Theory -- which allows for visualisation of students' thinking, and to illuminate how students construct knowledge in open-ended problem solving. The…

Background: Both learning and problem solving are major goals of complex problem solving in engineering education. The order of knowledge construction and problem solving in learning through problem solving, however, has not been explained in current literature. Objectives: To understand their relationships, this study compared the effects of…

It is considered important to clarify the role of technology and engineering education for evolving STEM/STEAM education in each country. However, in Japan, unlike in other countries, the focus on STEAM education began after 2018, so the relevance of STEAM education to technology and engineering education has not yet been fully discussed.…

This descriptive study focuses on using voice activity detection (VAD) algorithms to extract student speech data in order to better understand the collaboration of small group work and the impact of teaching assistant (TA) interventions in undergraduate engineering discussion sections. Audio data were recorded from individual students wearing…

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of engineering design-based activities carried out in the sixth-grade Matter and Heat unit on the problem-solving skills of students, and the changes in the designing skills of students during these activities. This research, conducted by following the one-group pre-test -- post-test…

Challenge: The Hodgkin-Huxley membrane conductance model has been featured in biomedical engineering (BME) curricula for decades. A typical BME assignment might require students to apply the relevant equations and parameters to model the generation of action potentials; however, there is opportunity for students to build and explore both…

Design problems are often ill-structured as the requirements are broadly defined and have multiple correct solutions. Experts solve such problems by applying various cognitive and metacognitive skills before the formal specifications and solution designs are documented. Novices often need help solving ill-structured design problems as they lack…

Background:Concepts are defined generally as fundamental principles or global understandings specific to a field of expertise. Theories of situated cognition suggest that concepts may not have uniform meaning or representation in a particular social setting. Purpose/Hypothesis: The goal of this study was to investigate the process by which…

Due to the structured format of most engineering courses, the number of opportunities for engineering students to view matters differently from the traditional ways is limited. Therefore, a mandatory requirement was introduced into three engineering courses for students to propose an out of the ordinary solution to certain technical problems,…

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…

Previous research suggests that there should be a correlation between computational thinking and traditional cognitive and motor skills. At present, academia either considers cognitive skills a part of computational thinking, or investigates the correlation between computational thinking and cognitive skills. Current research on computational…

The impact of engineering design-based STEM education on 9th-grade high school students' attitudes toward STEM and their problem-solving skills was examined in this study. The subject of factors affecting the heat conduction rate in solids was taught using STEM education. In an experimental design with one group pre-test and post-test, students…

Although some studies have incorporated poetry into engineering courses, no studies exist that explore the use of writing poetry about technical topics to develop creative thinking skills in undergraduate engineering education. This study explores engineering students' perceptions of incorporating poetry writing within an upper-level…

As artificial intelligence (AI) technology rapidly advances, it becomes imperative to equip students with tools to navigate through the many intricate ethical considerations surrounding its development and use. Despite growing recognition of this necessity, the integration of AI ethics into higher education curricula remains limited. This paucity…