Fila, N. D., & Hess, J. L., & Mathis, P. D., & Purzer, S. (2015, June), Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors Among Engineering Students  Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.23677

\bibitem{asee_peer_23677}
  Fila, N. D., \& Hess, J. L., \& Mathis, P. D., \& Purzer, S. (2015, June), \emph{Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors Among Engineering Students}
  Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Seattle, Washington.
  10.18260/p.23677

Nicholas D. Fila, Justin L Hess, Paul D. Mathis, and Senay Purzer.  "Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors Among Engineering Students".  2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington, 2015, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2015.  https://peer.asee.org/23677 Internet.  30 Apr, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_23677}
  Nicholas D. Fila, Justin L Hess, Paul D. Mathis, and Senay Purzer.
  "Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors Among Engineering Students".
  \emph{2015 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Seattle, Washington, 2015, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2015.
  https://peer.asee.org/23677 Internet.  30 Apr, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_23677
author = "Nicholas D. Fila, Justin L Hess, Paul D. Mathis, and Senay Purzer"
title = "Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors Among Engineering Students"
booktitle = "2015 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2015"
month = "June"
address = "Seattle, Washington"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/23677}
number = {10.18260/p.23677}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -   Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors among                           Engineering StudentsInnovation is the process of developing novel and functional products, processes, and systemsthat appropriately address key user needs. As the role of innovation in engineering has grown,engineering educators have become increasingly focused on preparing engineering students tomeet innovative challenges. Recent literature suggests, however, that engineering students oftenlack the skills and mindsets necessary to be innovative. For example, reports indicate thatstudents do not view creativity as an important aspect of the engineering design process,emphasize technical details over a better understanding of the design problem, and are unable toidentify design solutions that are both feasible and novel. Other studies propose that engineeringstudents may indeed possess the skills and mindsets necessary for innovation, but theengineering identity they develop throughout their undergraduate education may limit theirwillingness or ability to demonstrate those skills and mindsets in an engineering context. Withthis study, we sought to understand how engineering students developed and utilized fourbehaviors commonly linked to innovativeness in an engineering context. These behaviorsinclude: questioning, experimenting, networking, and observing (as described by TheInnovator’s DNA). Our specific research questions were:   1) What level do engineering students achieve on the four discovery behaviors?   2) What do engineering students describe as challenges to developing these behaviors?   3) What do engineering students describe as promoting the development of these behaviors?One-hundred sixty-three engineering students at all postsecondary academic levels and fourteenengineering majors completed an established survey on the four discovery behaviors. Nine ofthese students (representing demographic variety comparable to the complete sample)participated in follow-up interviews to discuss the constructs measured by the survey and theiruse in an engineering or engineering education context. We compared student survey results to aset of published scores of professional innovators on the same survey. When comparing to expertinnovators, students scored lower on questioning and networking. Overall, students scored loweron networking compared to the three other behaviors.Qualitative content analysis was used to address the second and third research questions.Excerpts in which students described utilizing, learning, or avoiding the four discovery behaviorsduring the course of their education were identified. These excerpts were open and then axiallycoded to identify patterns that suggested promoters and inhibitors to the behaviors. Thesepatterns could refer specifically to a single behavior or multiple behaviors. Preliminary analysisrevealed fifteen inhibitors and seven promoters spanning personal characteristics, classroomcontexts, and relevance to engineering or a student’s specific discipline. Paired with the surveyresults these patterns suggest a complex interplay between student characteristics, instructionalpractices, and larger social contexts in a student’s development of innovation relatedcompetencies. Results from this study may help engineering educators understand howclassroom and curricular practices may aid students in developing and demonstrating innovationcompetencies in an engineering context.
AU  - Nicholas D. Fila
AU  - Justin L Hess
AU  - Paul D. Mathis
AU  - Senay Purzer
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Challenges to and Development of Innovation Discovery Behaviors Among Engineering Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/23677
DO  - 10.18260/p.23677
ER  -