Workshop: Problem Framing Canvases for Client-Centered Service Learning Design Projects

Todd France; J. Blake Hylton; Abigail Clark

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Conference: 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Publication Date: July 28, 2024
Start Date: July 28, 2024
End Date: July 30, 2024
Page Count: 3
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--48653
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48653
Download Count: 35

Paper Authors

biography

Todd France Ohio Northern University

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Todd France is the director of Ohio Northern University's Engineering Education program, which strives to prepare engineering educators for grades 7-12. He also helps coordinate the first-year engineering experience and teaches sustainability-focused courses.

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J. Blake Hylton Ohio Northern University orcid.org/0000-0001-9766-971X

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Dr. Hylton is an Associate Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering for the T.J. Smull College of Engineering at Ohio Northern University.

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Abigail Clark Ohio Northern University orcid.org/0000-0002-2214-2160

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Abigail Clark is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio Northern University. She holds a PhD in Engineering Education from The Ohio State University. She also holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State and Ohio Northern University. Prior to her time at OSU, she worked at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio. Her research interests include pre-college engineering education, informal engineering education, and identity development.

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Abstract

Authentic design experiences have long been viewed as a critical element in engaging students and exposing them to the realities of engineering and design. Authentic design experiences that leverage a real-world client are particularly sought after. However, these experiences present logistical challenges and are resource intensive to implement, especially at scale. This becomes particularly true in the first-year engineering space, where both scale and student design maturity can present barriers to providing clients with meaningful results.

A series of problem framing design canvases have been developed over several years to help guide novice designers through opportunity recognition and problem framing processes. This work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Kern Family Foundation, and internal institutional support.

Facilitators will present the service-oriented, client-based design project supported by the canvases while providing attendees the opportunity to experience using the canvases as they begin to design or redesign a project for their own course or program. The presented example project is completed in a multidisciplinary course by roughly 200 first-year engineering students. The workshop will detail how the project is structured, how clients are identified and engaged, and how the canvases enable students to critically assess their decisions as they move through initial stages of their project.

Outline: 1. Canvas printouts are available for attendees as they enter. Attendees are encouraged to think about a project they currently facilitate or envision; they can work individually or in small groups.

2. Stakeholder Profile Canvas: Attendees jot notes on this canvas to build empathy with the client of their current / envisioned project. a. Eliciting questions prompt responses related to their internal needs, wants, and pains, as well as external influences such as their environment and daily tasks. b. Examples of students’ stakeholder profile work are shown, as are the resulting design projects that eventually aligned with these canvas responses.

3. Discussion question: Why is it beneficial to engage with real clients?

4. Overview of the first-year engineering course in which the canvases have been utilized is presented.

5. Discussion question: What limits our ability to engage with real clients? a. Practical suggestions for recruiting community partners are presented, as is the importance of establishing realistic expectations.

6. Opportunity Recognition Canvas: Relative to their own current / envisioned project, attendees identify key stakeholders, summarize the most critical perspectives, and identify an opportunity to pursue. a. Stakeholder perspectives can be pulled from the previously-completed Stakeholder Profile Canvas. b. Students’ opportunity statements of varying degrees of quality are presented. c. Discussion about “framing the problem” with a well-composed opportunity recognition statement - over-defining can limit creativity vs. under-defining can lead to unfocused and/or overwhelming projects.

7. Problem Framing Canvas: Attendees identify a number of guided inquiry elements to further describe the scope of their recognized opportunity. a. Design specifications - delineated between constraints and evaluation metrics b. Assumptions to fill any current knowledge gaps c. Future research questions to better define design specs, build empathy, and address knowledge gaps - supported by the Question Formulation Technique d. Broader impacts of their project - using the Triple Bottom Line framework e. Currently available products / processes in the same or similar markets

8. Design Specification Canvas: Attendees identify at least one constraint and one evaluation metric related to their current / envisioned project. a. Constraints should include benchmarks of expected performance b. Evaluation metrics are useful for comparing options 9. Wrap-up Discussion: Throughout the interactive workshop and during the wrap-up, attendees are encouraged to share their own project ideas, implementation challenges, and best practices.

Citation
Format

France, T., & Hylton, J. B., & Clark, A. (2024, July), Workshop: Problem Framing Canvases for Client-Centered Service Learning Design Projects Paper presented at 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE), Boston, Massachusetts. 10.18260/1-2--48653

TY - CPAPER
AB - Authentic design experiences have long been viewed as a critical element in engaging students and exposing them to the realities of engineering and design. Authentic design experiences that leverage a real-world client are particularly sought after. However, these experiences present logistical challenges and are resource intensive to implement, especially at scale. This becomes particularly true in the first-year engineering space, where both scale and student design maturity can present barriers to providing clients with meaningful results.

A series of problem framing design canvases have been developed over several years to help guide novice designers through opportunity recognition and problem framing processes. This work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Kern Family Foundation, and internal institutional support.

Facilitators will present the service-oriented, client-based design project supported by the canvases while providing attendees the opportunity to experience using the canvases as they begin to design or redesign a project for their own course or program. The presented example project is completed in a multidisciplinary course by roughly 200 first-year engineering students. The workshop will detail how the project is structured, how clients are identified and engaged, and how the canvases enable students to critically assess their decisions as they move through initial stages of their project.

Outline:
1. Canvas printouts are available for attendees as they enter. Attendees are encouraged to think about a project they currently facilitate or envision; they can work individually or in small groups.

2. Stakeholder Profile Canvas: Attendees jot notes on this canvas to build empathy with the client of their current / envisioned project.
a. Eliciting questions prompt responses related to their internal needs, wants, and pains, as well as external influences such as their environment and daily tasks.
b. Examples of students’ stakeholder profile work are shown, as are the resulting design projects that eventually aligned with these canvas responses.

3. Discussion question: Why is it beneficial to engage with real clients?

4. Overview of the first-year engineering course in which the canvases have been utilized is presented.

5. Discussion question: What limits our ability to engage with real clients?
a. Practical suggestions for recruiting community partners are presented, as is the importance of establishing realistic expectations.

6. Opportunity Recognition Canvas: Relative to their own current / envisioned project, attendees identify key stakeholders, summarize the most critical perspectives, and identify an opportunity to pursue.
a. Stakeholder perspectives can be pulled from the previously-completed Stakeholder Profile Canvas.
b. Students’ opportunity statements of varying degrees of quality are presented.
c. Discussion about “framing the problem” with a well-composed opportunity recognition statement - over-defining can limit creativity vs. under-defining can lead to unfocused and/or overwhelming projects.

7. Problem Framing Canvas: Attendees identify a number of guided inquiry elements to further describe the scope of their recognized opportunity.
a. Design specifications - delineated between constraints and evaluation metrics
b. Assumptions to fill any current knowledge gaps
c. Future research questions to better define design specs, build empathy, and address knowledge gaps - supported by the Question Formulation Technique
d. Broader impacts of their project - using the Triple Bottom Line framework
e. Currently available products / processes in the same or similar markets

8. Design Specification Canvas: Attendees identify at least one constraint and one evaluation metric related to their current / envisioned project.
a. Constraints should include benchmarks of expected performance
b. Evaluation metrics are useful for comparing options

9. Wrap-up Discussion: Throughout the interactive workshop and during the wrap-up, attendees are encouraged to share their own project ideas, implementation challenges, and best practices.

AU - Todd France
AU - J. Blake Hylton
AU - Abigail Clark
CY - Boston, Massachusetts
DA - 2024/07/28
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Workshop: Problem Framing Canvases for Client-Centered Service Learning Design Projects
UR - https://peer.asee.org/48653
DO - 10.18260/1-2--48653
ER -