Building Better Engineers: Critical Reflection as a High Impact Practice in Design Learning

Andres Sanchez; Laura Palucki Blake; David Chen; Magdalena Jones; Serena Mao; Leah Mendelson; Steven Santana

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: ERM: Design!
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40999
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40999
Download Count: 440

Laura Palucki Blake is the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Harvey Mudd College, where her primary role is to coordinate data collection, interpretation and dissemination to support teaching and learning, planning and decision-making across the college. Prior to joining Harvey Mudd, she was the Assistant Director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA.

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Leah Mendelson Harvey Mudd College

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Assistant Professor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College

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Serena Mao Harvey Mudd College

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I'm a rising sophomore at Harvey Mudd College interested in all things education and computer science!

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Magdalena Jones Harvey Mudd College

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David Chen Harvey Mudd College

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Abstract

Critical reflection is a deliberate process wherein students focus on their performance and practice and consider their thinking and mindset that led to particular actions, what happened, and what they are learning from the experience. Reflection as a practice in learning has been well-documented for its potential to cement knowledge. Because of this potential, reflection is valued as a tool for continuous improvement in learning. This work in progress describes a collection of data visualizations and reflection activities to foster the development of reflective engineers who equally consider their design learning, ability to function on teams, and identity development.

Engineering design is, by its nature, future oriented. Through design, engineers identify and solve problems. To achieve success in creating novel solutions to problems that enable better futures, engineers must embrace the complexity of the problem and iterate through design together with teams. Thus, the critical reflections described herein mimic this approach. The data visualizations and reflection activities in this study are structured to support opportunities for individual contemplation, team discussion, and instructor feedback. Students self-report design process data through a design diary where they record their activities as to a particular design project. The diary data is then used to generate visualizations that inform students as they engage in sustained, consistent reflection. These reflection activities are designed to situate students in contexts of productive discomfort to improve practice through developing a future-oriented frame. This frame is consistent with design, namely, to solve problems through collaborative iteration to create a better future. Since both individual and team-based reflection points are necessary for critical thought, this work has the potential to improve design learning, teamwork, and individuals’ engineering identity. Supporting students through these difficult conversations using data and structured reflections has the potential to be transformative in developing a more equitable and inclusive culture wherein norms, behaviors, and mindsets are not assumed or left unquestioned. The intended outcomes of this work are to train students as reflective engineers who engage in nonlinear approaches to design and to proactively develop team cultures that value diverse experiences, views, and thinking all in service to creating a more equitable engineering profession and high-quality designs that benefit society.

Citation
Format

Santana, S., & Sanchez, A., & Palucki Blake, L., & Mendelson, L., & Mao, S., & Jones, M., & Chen, D. (2022, August), Building Better Engineers: Critical Reflection as a High Impact Practice in Design Learning Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40999

TY - CPAPER
AB - Critical reflection is a deliberate process wherein students focus on their performance and practice and consider their thinking and mindset that led to particular actions, what happened, and what they are learning from the experience. Reflection as a practice in learning has been well-documented for its potential to cement knowledge. Because of this potential, reflection is valued as a tool for continuous improvement in learning. This work in progress describes a collection of data visualizations and reflection activities to foster the development of reflective engineers who equally consider their design learning, ability to function on teams, and identity development.

Engineering design is, by its nature, future oriented. Through design, engineers identify and solve problems. To achieve success in creating novel solutions to problems that enable better futures, engineers must embrace the complexity of the problem and iterate through design together with teams. Thus, the critical reflections described herein mimic this approach. The data visualizations and reflection activities in this study are structured to support opportunities for individual contemplation, team discussion, and instructor feedback. Students self-report design process data through a design diary where they record their activities as to a particular design project. The diary data is then used to generate visualizations that inform students as they engage in sustained, consistent reflection. These reflection activities are designed to situate students in contexts of productive discomfort to improve practice through developing a future-oriented frame. This frame is consistent with design, namely, to solve problems through collaborative iteration to create a better future. Since both individual and team-based reflection points are necessary for critical thought, this work has the potential to improve design learning, teamwork, and individuals’ engineering identity. Supporting students through these difficult conversations using data and structured reflections has the potential to be transformative in developing a more equitable and inclusive culture wherein norms, behaviors, and mindsets are not assumed or left unquestioned. The intended outcomes of this work are to train students as reflective engineers who engage in nonlinear approaches to design and to proactively develop team cultures that value diverse experiences, views, and thinking all in service to creating a more equitable engineering profession and high-quality designs that benefit society.
AU - Steven Santana
AU - Andres Sanchez
AU - Laura Palucki Blake
AU - Leah Mendelson
AU - Serena Mao
AU - Magdalena Jones
AU - David Chen
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Building Better Engineers: Critical Reflection as a High Impact Practice in Design Learning
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40999
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40999
ER -