A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF FIRST-YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES WITH PROBLEMS INVOLVING MULTIPLE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Engineers are expected to solve problems that are ill-structured. These problems are presented with a lack of necessary information and allow for different ways of engaging with the problem; they are open-ended and involve multiple possible solutions with multiple means of evaluation. In order to allow maximum time for students to develop skills for solving such problems, undergraduate engineering programs can introduce such problems during the first year of students’ education, in the form of cornerstone design tasks. This provides students with more opportunities to develop their ability to engage with ill-structured problems, which are characteristic of engineering work. Researchers have documented variation within both the behavior and perceptions of students’ early experiences with design problems. General themes include novice-like design behavior, discomfort with lack of information, difficulty with problem scoping, and resistance to ambiguity. To build on these generalizations of students’ experiences, a more thorough understanding of the variation in how students experience this phenomenon of engaging with ill-structured problems is needed to design effective learning environments.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Engineering Education

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Dringenberg, Emily

Contributors dc:contributor

• Senay Purzer
• Robin Adams
• Monica Cardella
• Ruth Streveler

• ambiguity
• engineering
• first-year experience
• ill-structured problems
• multiple perspectives
• phenomenography

Repository record dc:identifier

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1184

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-2400