The Synthesis of Engineering and Art for Innovative Education

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Interdisciplinary (99)Creativity has often been associated with the arts, although creativity is also essential for innovative discoveries and applications in science and engineering. An engineer should be innovative and humanistic in addition to being technically competent. This project is designed to actualize that vision. An overarching question that guides this project is: How may the cognitive capacity of artistic, creative thinking inform the development of creative problem solving in environmental engineering, which is increasingly called upon to propose solutions for complex human and environmental systems? This project focuses on both research and education to address this concern by developing and implementing an interdisciplinary sequence in the engineering undergraduate curriculum centered on synthesis and design studios, and a series of faculty development workshops to help faculty integrate creativity into their classrooms. The intellectual merit of this work lies in framing this project within current research in psychology, cognitive science, education, and engineering education. This project has broader societal impacts as it is furthers understanding of how to teach students to be creative and innovative thinkers so that they can be better prepared for tackling large scale issues.