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Scaffolding reflection across the design curriculum: Triangulating Student, Alumni, and Faculty Perspectives of the Role of Design within an Engineering Science Program

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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

DEED Technical Session 9 - Design Across the Curriculum

Page Count

17

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41691

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41691

Download Count

422

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Paper Authors

biography

Rubaina Khan University of Toronto

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Rubaina Khan is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her research interests lie at the intersection of engineering design, learning communities and reflective practice. Prior, to pursuing graduate studies, Rubaina spent 10 years in autonomous marine vehicles research and, teaching robotics and design to engineering students in Singapore.

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Lisa Romkey University of Toronto

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Abstract

Today, in most engineering departments, design is taught across the curriculum - moving away from the bookend fashion in the past. These design courses, strategically strewn across the undergraduate program, help students to experience design thinking frequently and provide a space for curriculum innovation. The design courses can be thought of as part of a learning progression in which students develop their professional identity through epistemic activities, social networks, and sense-making. The program under study provides design courses across its curriculum known as the design spine. Through a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 15 instructors, 12 alumni, and 6 focus groups with students, we developed a better understanding of the purpose of the design spine in professional identity development and the caveats that need to be addressed through curriculum intervention. Qualitative results of the evaluation indicated that all participants viewed design as the space in the curriculum where real-world challenges and practices can be brought into the classroom. Significant differences were found in the relative importance of other components of the engineering design curriculum. In response to the program evaluation findings, a conceptual framework is presented that supports reflective assignments which we co-designed with instructors across the design spine curriculum.

Khan, R., & Romkey, L. (2022, August), Scaffolding reflection across the design curriculum: Triangulating Student, Alumni, and Faculty Perspectives of the Role of Design within an Engineering Science Program Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41691

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