MCA: Divergent Thinking Skills Training in Undergraduate Engineering Education: An Investigation of Stakeholder Perceptions

MCA：本科工程教育中的发散思维技能培训：利益相关者看法的调查

• 批准号: 2219012
• 负责人: Elif Akcali
• 金额: $ 36.04万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2219012&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MCA; Divergent; Thinking; Skills; Training

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving students’ divergent thinking skills in undergraduate engineering education. Engineering students are trained to find one correct solution to a well-defined problem (convergent thinking). However, in the engineering workforce they are asked to think outside of the box (divergent thinking) to find a new solution to ill-defined challenges of the 21st century. Thus, there is a critical gap between engineering education and its practice. Currently, there are few opportunities in engineering degree programs for students to practice, develop, and apply their divergent thinking skills. This project will study the perceptions of divergent thinking in engineering education stakeholder groups, identify barriers to divergent thinking, develop methods to assess students’ divergent thinking skills, and develop course content to improve these skills. Stakeholder groups will include undergraduate engineering students, engineering faculty, university administrators, and engineering professionals. Project results and outcomes will be disseminated via engineering education conference participation, local and national workshops, journal publications, blog posts, and Creative Commons licensing.The overall goal of this project is to develop instructional materials and assessment methods that will help students learn and practice divergent thinking skills. This study intends to address the following research questions: What are the students’ experiences with divergent thinking skills during their degree program? How do engineering faculty develop students’ divergent thinking skills in their classes? How do employers benefit from divergent thinking skills of engineers? What value do administrators gain from the development of divergent thinking skills in undergraduate engineering education? Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, the project plans to collect and analyze in-depth interview data from members of each stakeholder group. Via purposive sampling, the perspectives of a diverse group of members from each of the stakeholder groups from a broad range of engineering disciplines will be examined. Assessment tools for divergent thinking will be developed based on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Results from the interviews will be used to inform the adaptation of scaffolding mechanisms in the learning sciences to support student learning of divergent thinking skills and the development of instructional materials. This MCA award is funded through NSF's IUSE: EHR Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.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.

本项目旨在通过提高本科工程教育中学生的发散思维能力来服务于国家利益。工程专业的学生被训练为找到一个正确的解决方案，一个明确的问题（收敛思维）。然而，在工程劳动力中，他们被要求跳出框框思考（发散思维），以找到一个新的解决方案，以应对21世纪世纪定义不清的挑战。因此，工程教育与其实践之间存在着严重的差距。目前，工程学位课程很少有机会让学生练习，发展和应用他们的发散思维技能。该项目将研究工程教育利益相关者群体对发散思维的看法，识别发散思维的障碍，开发评估学生发散思维技能的方法，并开发课程内容以提高这些技能。利益相关者团体将包括本科工程专业学生、工程系教师、大学管理人员和工程专业人员。项目的成果将通过参加工程教育会议、地方和国家研讨会、期刊出版物、博客文章和知识共享许可等方式传播。本项目的总体目标是开发教学材料和评估方法，帮助学生学习和练习发散思维技能。本研究旨在探讨以下问题：学生在修读学位课程期间，对发散性思维技能的体验如何？工科教师如何在课堂上培养学生的发散性思维能力？雇主如何从工程师的发散思维能力中受益？在本科工程教育中，管理者从发散性思维技能的发展中获得了什么价值？该项目计划使用先验现象学方法，从每个利益相关者群体的成员那里收集和分析深入访谈数据。通过有目的的抽样，将审查来自广泛的工程学科的每个利益相关者群体的不同成员群体的观点。发散性思维的评估工具将根据托兰斯创造性思维测试开发。从采访的结果将被用来通知脚手架机制在学习科学的适应，以支持学生学习的发散性思维技能和教学材料的开发。该MCA奖项由NSF的IUSE：EHR计划资助，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。