Asee peer logo

Design Conceptualization over Multiple Design Courses

Download Paper |

Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 25

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47122

Request a correction

Paper Authors

author page

Caitlyn Berryhill California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

biography

Amanda Clara Emberley California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5737-7798

visit author page

Dr. Emberley is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

This is a research paper. This research project's focus is to better understand how students are conceptualizing engineering design over their multiple design projects. We focus on a mechanical engineering program at a single institution that has course based design experiences during each of the four years of the degree program. Data was collected through a survey given to 73 engineering students. The questions in this survey targeted student’s conceptualization and relationship with design, as well as their demographics and course history. Open-ended questions focused on student responses about how they defined engineering design and what aspects of design they considered to be challenging or straightforward. Closed-ended questions focused on how often they have had opportunities to practice aspects of design, including working directly with a client and considering sustainability in their solutions. The open-ended questions were organized using a thematic coding system which were then compared to the demographics and course history information. Themes among the responses indicate students’ thought processes behind engineering design and their relationships with different aspects of design. For example, we found that students in the third year level design course, which is mostly focused on technical details of design, are more likely to describe specific technical aspects of design as the most challenging parts of design, whereas students in the sophomore and senior level design courses are more likely to describe teamwork and communication as challenging parts of design. Additionally, we identified several areas where students have limited exposure to areas of design, including working directly with a client and considering the ethical implications of their solutions. These correlations point to areas where students may need additional help in design thinking.

Berryhill, C., & Emberley, A. C. (2024, June), Design Conceptualization over Multiple Design Courses Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47122

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015