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Exploring Engineering Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Creativity in Academic and Research Environments

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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 4

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47409

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Paper Authors

biography

Autumn R. Deitrick Pennsylvania State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-1173-597X

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Autumn Deitrick is a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). She is working under Dr. Catherine Berdanier in the Engineering Cognitive Research Laboratory (ECRL) studying creativity in graduate-level engineering education. She earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Penn State and her S.M. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program.

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biography

Catherine G. P. Berdanier Pennsylvania State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3271-4836

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Catherine G.P. Berdanier is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from The University of South Dakota, her M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and her PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Her research expertise lies in characterizing graduate-level attrition, persistence, and career trajectories; engineering writing and communication; and methodological development.

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Abstract

The purpose of this full research paper is to understand the creative climate of graduate-level engineering education by exploring engineering graduate students’ perceptions of creativity in academic and research environments. At its core, the profession of engineering is focused on developing creative solutions to complex problems. Despite increasing calls for engineering education to engage students in curricula that foster creativity, literature shows that in actuality, students do not feel that engineering programs place a high value on fostering creativity. While several studies on creativity at the undergraduate level have attempted to address this discrepancy, there is little research at the graduate level. However, studying creativity at the graduate level is essential because creativity is required to generate new knowledge through research. This study seeks to address the gap in knowledge about graduate-level creativity through a thematic analysis of five semi-structured interviews with engineering graduate students. These interviews are part of a larger mixed-methods research project with the goal of characterizing the creative climate of graduate-level engineering education. In the interviews, we asked participants about their creative endeavors, how they define creativity, and their perceptions of creativity within engineering. We used Hunter et al.’s (2005) 14 creative climate dimensions as a theoretical framework to assess the creative climate of graduate-level engineering education and account for academia’s complex interpersonal relationships and organizational structures. Results demonstrate that many of the creative climate dimensions are absent from research group and classroom environments in graduate-level engineering education. This paper is one of the first to explore engineering graduate students’ perceptions of creativity within their academic and research environments and offers implications for how graduate-level engineering education can better foster creativity.

Deitrick, A. R., & Berdanier, C. G. P. (2024, June), Exploring Engineering Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Creativity in Academic and Research Environments Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47409

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