The development of the global engineer: Effects of ethnographic investigations on students' design decisions

本研究的目的是表征学生的内容和深度如何？人种学调查影响他们的设计决策，特别是当学生定义问题、制定设计要求和工程规范、选择概念和开发验证研究时。成功的设计方案必须在其使用的文化背景中具有实用性。虽然并非所有的工程专业学生都能参与实质性的文化沉浸体验，但清楚地了解这些技能是如何发展的，学生面临的挑战，以及设计民族志如何影响设计的后期阶段，将有助于开发和整合这些技术到工程设计课程中，以及开发有效的指标来评估设计民族志的熟练程度。本研究更广泛的意义在于为工科本科学生提供教他们民族志和共同创造技能的教学法、课程和经验。其结果将是设计解决方案，更好地满足用户对新兴全球技术挑战的需求。工程师进行人种学研究并利用数据做出有效设计决策的能力，将促进创新、实用和可实施的解决方案的发展，以解决本世纪的问题。美国的全球性挑战。

The goal of this research is to characterize how the content and depth of students? ethnographicinvestigations impact their design decisions, specifically as students define the problem,develop design requirements and engineering specifications, select concepts, and developvalidation studies. Successful design solutions must be practical in the cultural context in whichthey will be used. While all engineering students are not able to participate in a substantialcultural immersion experience, a clear understanding of how these skills develop, thechallenges students face, and how design ethnography affects later stages of design willfacilitate the development and integration of these techniques into engineering design coursesas well as the development of validated metrics to evaluate proficiency in design ethnography.The broader significance of this research is to provide undergraduate engineering students withpedagogy, curricula, and experiences that teach them ethnographic and co-creation skills. Theresult will be design solutions that better address user needs for emerging global technologicalchallenges. The ability of engineers to conduct ethnographic studies and use the data to makeeffective design decisions will facilitate the development of innovative, practical, andimplementable solutions that address this century?s global challenges.