Improving Students’ Creative Problem Solving Skills in Engineering using Visual Representation Methods

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This project aims to serve the national interest by developing, implementing, and evaluating creative problem solving (CPS) activities that help engineering students learn how to solve complex problems. While CPS is recognized as an important skill for the engineering workforce, the lack of integrated CPS instructional materials and strategies has become a significant barrier to enriching students’ higher order thinking skills. This project will implement a series of active learning modules in which students create visual representations as part of a dynamic CPS strategy in an electronics circuits course. The modules will involve spatial reasoning activities that engage students in engineering problems by having students capture or transform the problems into visual forms, write narrative reflections, and share their work with other students. These learning experiences will allow students to go beyond traditional linear thinking and structured problem solving to explore innovative solutions for challenging engineering problems. This study will examine the impact of creative experiences, changes in students’ perception of creativity, and academic growth through the development of creative skills. Using surveys, student interviews, and assessments of student work, the project will study the impact of this approach on the development of students’ CPS skills and level of student engagement. Workshops and tutorials will be created to help engineering faculty at other institutions adopt and adapt this CPS strategy. The goal of this project is to improve students’ CPS skills by introducing CPS modules and strategies into an existing electronics circuits course. Visual representation methodologies will be used to help students practice creative exercises by connecting relationships between concepts, objects, and ideas that seem unrelated in current learning contexts. Students will work on a series of CPS activities that take the students through the stages of CPS, namely, (1) critical reflection in which students identify the problem, reflect on what they have already learned, and then engage in active inquiry and further research on subject matter; (2) brainstorming that catalyzes imaginative and divergent thinking from different perspectives; (3) visualization and synthesis of creative solutions; and (4) contextualization that links creative ideas with the underlying principles of the knowledge domain. These creative exercises will be designed to foster creative skill sets (such as fluency, flexibility, and originality), promote students’ motivation to pursue creative solutions, and develop engaging, challenging, and inspiring classroom learning. The project will address a set of research questions including: (1) To what extent do the modules improve students’ CPS skills? (2) What effect, if any, do the modules have on student learning in the course? Results from student surveys and assessments of student work will be used to answer the research questions by comparing the results from a control group and a treatment group. This project will offer exhibitions and workshops for engineering faculty to increase awareness of strategies for CPS and student engagement. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.