Using Engineering Design Prototypes to Improve the Communication and Argumentation Skills of Undergraduate Engineering Students

该项目旨在通过提高工科学生有效沟通的能力来服务于国家利益。 鉴于工程设计的不明确、复杂和日益技术化的性质，工程师必须能够解释复杂系统背后的设计原理。 然而，本科阶段的大多数沟通能力都集中在技术写作和研究报告上。这项工作调查设计原型和沟通能力之间的关系。越来越多的研究指出原型在工程设计过程中的重要性，特别是作为沟通工具。 然而，原型的潜在用途，以帮助大学生学习如何有效地沟通还没有得到很好的探讨。本项目将弥合这一差距的特点本科工程专业学生的沟通策略。 然后，它将利用这项研究的结果来指导工程课程的改进，包括开发基于证据的课程和教育工具，以帮助学生更有效地解释，捍卫和倡导特定的设计决策。 这个学生学习项目包括一个多方法的研究，以调查工程专业的学生谁进行基于团队的顶点设计课程的原型活动，并描述他们的口头沟通策略时，“投球”原型设计审查小组。 据预测，这些数据将是有价值的理解语言和学科话语的学生使用的变化，因为他们成为社会化的成员，他们的工程学科。 本研究还试图了解学生对这种转变的看法。本计画有四个指导性的研究问题：（1）学生如何使用原型来传达他们的设计意图与计画成果？(2)在用原型传达设计意图时，学生将设计解决方案的成功或失败归因于什么因素？(3)学生在多大程度上意识到他们使用原型的交际模式？以及（4）可以开发哪些方法来实现对等形成性反馈？ 该项目得到了NSF改善本科STEM教育计划的支持：教育和人力资源，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生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知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the ability of engineering students to communicate effectively. Given the ill-defined, complex, and increasingly technical nature of engineering design, engineers must be able to explain the design rationale behind complex systems. However, most communication competencies at the undergraduate level focus on technical writing and research presentations. This work investigates the relationship between design prototypes and communication competencies. A growing body of research points to the importance of prototypes during the engineering design process, particularly as communication tools. However, the potential use of prototypes to help undergraduates learn how to communicate effectively has not been well explored. This project will bridge this gap by characterizing the communication strategies of undergraduate engineering students. It will then leverage the results of this research to guide improvements to the engineering curriculum, including development of evidence-based curriculum and educational tools to help students more effectively explain, defend, and advocate for specific design decisions. This Engaged Student Learning project includes a multiple-methods research study to investigate engineering students who undertake prototyping activities in team-based capstone design courses, and to characterize their verbal communication strategies when "pitching" prototypes to a design review panel. It is predicted that this data will be valuable for understanding the changes in language and disciplinary discourse students use as they become socialized as members of their engineering discipline. This research also seeks to understand student perceptions of this transition. The project has guiding four research questions: (1) How do students communicate their design intent and project outcomes using prototypes? (2) To what factors do students attribute success or failure of design solutions when communicating design intent with prototypes? (3) To what extent are students aware of their communicative patterns using prototypes? and (4) What methods can be developed to enable peer-to-peer formative feedback? This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources, which 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.