Asee peer logo

Fostering the Deliberate Development of Creative Engineers

Download Paper |

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

Civil Engineering Division - Innovative Changes to the Typical Civil Engineering Coursework.

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--40566

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/40566

Download Count

304

Paper Authors

author page

Jakob Bruhl United States Military Academy

biography

Andrea Surovek South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

visit author page

Andrea Surovek received her PhD from Georgia Tech too long ago to mention the date. She recently created the office of Faculty Development and Advancement at SDMines and is enjoying life on the dark side.

visit author page

biography

James Klosky United States Military Academy

visit author page

Led Klosky is a Professor of Civil Engineering and long-time member of the faculty at West Point. A Professional Engineer, Led serves as the Dean's Executive Agent for Design and Construction and is interested in the design of collaborative learning spaces, infrastructure engineering and education, and subsurface engineering. Dr. Klosky is a past winner of the National Outstanding Teaching Medal from ASEE.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

This is not debated: Engineers must create innovative solutions to face challenges today and into the future. Creativity is a key attribute in The Engineer of 2020 and is central to the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Body of Knowledge, 3rd Edition. What is debated is how to develop creativity within engineering students. In previous literature, a two-pronged approach has been described. First, develop creative skills in coherent steps and, secondly, create communities which support and validate creative growth. This paper strives to operationalize this approach by providing examples from across academia for doing both. After describing potential sources of individual and institutional resistance to deliberate development of creativity within engineering students the paper summarizes proven methods from the literature to address both elements of the approach. Methods to develop creativity skills within engineering courses are described. These vary from short exercises that take little class time to employ to longer, full-class activities. Exemplar programs and institutions which have cultivated a culture which values and celebrates creativity and innovation within their engineering students and faculty are showcased. This paper is not a research paper – it does not test a specific approach or method. Instead, it summarizes the literature to provide a practical reference for faculty members and organizational leaders who desire to make the development of creativity a more central element of the education of the engineering students they shepherd. While written by civil engineers and drawing largely from the literature from civil engineering educators, the methods described apply broadly to all engineering educators.1

Bruhl, J., & Surovek, A., & Klosky, J. (2022, August), Fostering the Deliberate Development of Creative Engineers Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40566

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: © 2022 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