Knowledge Base Repository

In addition to research papers, the Design Society is developing several valuable resources for those interested in the study of design. These include a repository of PhD theses, a library of case studies and transcripts of design activities, and an archive of our newsletters. Please note that these resources are accessible exclusively to Design Society members.

Increasing Student Confidence through Experiential Design Exercises in Engineering Science Courses

Krauss, Gordon


Type:
Year:
2023
Editor:
Kevin Otto, Boris Eisenbart, Claudia Eckert, Benoit Eynard, Dieter Krause, Josef Oehmen, Nad
Author:
Series:
ICED
Institution:
Harvey Mudd College
Section:
Design Methods
Page(s):
2285-2294
DOI number:
Abstract:
This study investigates the impact on student confidence of completing in-lecture engineering design activities focused on the application of specific engineering science topics within a materials engineering course. Many times, engineering science courses are taught with the expectation that the course content can be easily translated by students at a later time to apply in engineering design activities. By measuring student self-reported confidence across several related topics before and after completion of the in-lecture design exercises the impact of the exercises on student confidence has been quantified. On average, students have a lower than desired confidence in applying the specific materials engineering topics to a design problem after completing only the course content on the subject. Following completion of the related seventy-five minute design exercise, student confidence increased by a statistically significant degree. These results suggest that close integration of topical content learning with design application activity may be a useful method to improve engineering student confidence and, by extension, retention.
Keywords:

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