CAREER: Characterizing, Understanding, and Integrating Complex Problem Solving in Engineering Education

这个CAREER项目将研究工科学生如何？让我们学习解决复杂问题。 随着全球竞争力和技术变革的快速发展，工程师必须学会适应复杂和快速变化的问题解决环境，并保持有效的创新。本科研究和行业经验为我们的学生学习这些基本的，基于问题的和具有全球竞争力的技能提供了坚实的基础。然而，虽然这样的经验提供了许多好处，使工程专业的学生开始解决现实世界的复杂问题的做法，有两个主要的陷阱：（a）缺乏研究和实证研究的学生？（B）大多数工科学生在本科教育期间没有接触到这些经验（对于本科研究经验来说尤其如此，只有最优秀的学生才能被选中参加）。我们的总体目标是描述和理解在现实世界的工程环境中解决复杂问题的能力，作为在工程教育环境中整合这些基本问题解决技能的一种手段。六个研究问题的指导下，预计：（a）现实世界的研究和行业为基础的问题的分类将导致理解和表征复杂的问题解决领域和过程，（B）学生？将评估学习成果（认知、情感、社会和专业），以了解不同的问题如何产生不同的成果和认知能力，（c）将开发可在机构、方案、部门和经验之间转移的创新工具和评估工具，（d）将调查和提出在工程教育中实施解决复杂问题的战略。我们将采用混合方法的方法来有效地分类本科研究和行业的问题，以及评估工程专业的学生？在这两个高度推广的经验中，学习成果（包括业绩和成就动机、自我效能、解决问题和批判性思维技能、专业身份、适应性专门知识和认知灵活性）。基于研究的结果和发现，良好的综合教育组成部分将涉及开发，实施和评估的教学材料，重点是转移复杂的问题解决，基于研究和行业经验，在三个设置：（1）本科课程内JMU？的工程计划，（2）高中水平的工程课程的女学生，（3）K-12教育的重点是学生和教师教育工作者。

This CAREER project will research how engineering students?s learn complex problem solving. With global competitiveness and the rapid pace of technological change, engineers must learn to adapt to complex and rapidly changing problem solving environments as well as remain effective in innovation. Undergraduate research and industry experiences provide a strong basis for our students to learn these essential, problem-based, and globally competitive skills. Yet, although such experiences offer many benefits and enable engineering students to begin the practice of solving real-world complex problems, there are two main pitfalls: (a) lack of research and empirical studies on students? learning outcomes as a result of participating in these experiences, and (b) the majority of engineering students do not get exposed to these experiences during their undergraduate education (this is particularly true for undergraduate research experiences, which only the best students get selected to participate in). Our overarching goal is to characterize and understand complex problem solving in real-world engineering settings as a means of integrating these essential problem solving skills in engineering education settings. Guided by six research questions, it is anticipated that: (a) classification of real-world research- and industry-based problems will lead to a understanding and characterizing complex problem solving domains and processes, (b) students? learning outcomes (cognitive, affective, social, and professional) will be assessed in order to understand how different problems enable different outcomes and cognitive abilities, (c) innovative instruments and assessment tools, that can be transferred across institutions, programs, departments, and experiences, will be developed, and (d) strategies for implementing complex problem solving in engineering education will be investigated and presented. We will employ a mixed-methods approach to effectively classify undergraduate research and industry problems as well as assess engineering students? learning outcomes (including performance and achievement motivation, self-efficacy, problem solving and critical thinking skills, professional identity, adaptive expertise and cognitive flexibility) during these two highly promoted experiences. Grounded on the results and findings of the research, the well-integrated educational component will involve the development, implementation, and evaluation of instructional material focused on transferring complex problem solving, based on research and industry experiences, in three settings: (1) undergraduate courses within JMU?s engineering program, (2) high school level engineering course for female students, and (3) K-12 education focused on students and teacher educators.