Collaborative Research: Preparing for the Grand Challenges: When and how do engineering students learn broad thinking?

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This engineering education research addresses how to best prepare students for the grand, complex challenges of 21st century engineering projects. The hypothesis of the project is that such grand challenges require "broad thinking". This research project attempts to understand when and how broad thinking develops in engineering students in order to create better learning experiences. To gain such insights the PI?s will examine data collected in the Academic Pathways Study, a multi-institution dataset on the paths students take when navigating an engineering degree program. More specifically, the project focuses on three separate questions: 1) What degree of broad thinking do students demonstrate during the course of four years of undergraduate engineering education? 2) What is the relationship between broad thinking and intention to pursue engineering beyond the undergraduate years? 3) How do educational experiences help engineering students develop broad thinking? The broader significance and importance of this project is to learn how to better design college learning experiences for engineers so they are broad thinkers. Since many of the grand challenges and opportunities for engineering in the 21st century are broad in scope, complexity, and impact, engineers with a narrow focus may not be successful at addressing these challenges. The study may also learn if those who think broadly earn engineering degrees at the same rate as more narrow thinkers, and if not why this is.