ROLE: An Engineering Design Expertise Continuum: Filling it in and Linking it to Education Practice

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will take a research-informed approach to understanding how undergraduate engineering majors progress in their studies of engineering design. Its goal is to better understand and describe design expertise and a learner's growth towards acquiring that expertise. In this work, the investigators intend to undertake research in three areas: (1) The development of a continuum of design expertise as a way of describing learners' growth toward acquiring expertise, (2) A study of design expertise that will provide information to help populate the continuum, and (3) The demonstration of a research-informed approach in design education through the use of the continuum to enhance and assess student learning of engineering design during their cooperative (coop) experiences. This research should help us to better understand how students learn design principles in engineering, and the continuum, itself, may be of great help to engineering faculty in their efforts to teach design.