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Surfacing Students Design Problem Understanding through System Mapping: A Novice-Expert Comparison

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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 7 Design Mental Frameworks

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--40944

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/40944

Download Count

222

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Paper Authors

biography

Corey Schimpf University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/https://0000-0003-2706-3282

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Corey Schimpf is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the University at
Buffalo, SUNY his lab focuses on engineering design, advancing research methods, and technology innovations to support learning in complex domains. Major research strands include: (1) analyzing how expertise develops in engineering design across the continuum from novice pre-college students to practicing engineers, (2) advancing engineering design research by integrating new theoretical or analytical frameworks (e.g., from data science or complexity science) and (3) conducting design-based research to develop scaffolding tools for supporting the learning of complex skills like design. He is the Program Chair for the Design in Engineering Education Division for the 2022 ASEE conference.

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biography

Andrew Olewnik University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

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Assistant Professor | Engineering Education | University at Buffalo

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Abstract

An engineer or engineering team’s conception of the nature of a design problem for a given project will have a marked effect on what criteria and constraints are identified, what ideas are explored, what models or prototypes are tested and ultimately what artifact emerges from their process. For engineering design instructors, deeply capturing students' conceptions of their design problem could prove as a useful reflection tool for design projects, particularly capstone design. While student generated problem statements and enumeration of criteria and constraints begin to reveal students' design problem conceptions, these formats may not allow the full details of students' understanding of the problem to emerge. In this work we propose to adapt an approach used in policy evaluation, called Participatory Systems Mapping, as a tool for engineering students to externalize their design problem understanding. Participatory System Mapping is similar to concept mapping, but focuses explicitly on mapping systems, the core factors that shape the system or systems, and nature of the relationships between components or factors in the system. Design problems are not decontextualized descriptions or abstractions; they exist in real-world open systems, where social, economic, technical, physical, and other factors are tightly interwoven. Thus, this approach holds potential to reveal a greater depth of students' understanding of real-world design problems. We explore the utility of this approach through an expert and novice comparison study, which reveals differences in their maps. Discussion and implications address using system mapping as an instructional or reflective tool for senior and other design experiences.

Schimpf, C., & Olewnik, A. (2022, August), Surfacing Students Design Problem Understanding through System Mapping: A Novice-Expert Comparison Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40944

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