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

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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.