Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: Is it Rocket Science or Brain Science? Developing an Approach to Measuring Engineering Intuition

合作研究：研究启动：是火箭科学还是脑科学？

基本信息

批准号：
1927149
负责人：
Kaela Martin
金额：
$ 6.23万
依托单位：
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-10-01 至 2022-09-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1927149&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research Initiation Rocket Science

项目摘要

Engineers are tasked with designing, developing, and building solutions to complex problems. By nature, their decisions can have critical consequences, such as in the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the Boeing 737 Max 8 faulty sensor incident. In both of these events, the vehicle was cleared to fly by an engineer. Avoiding such engineering mistakes requires not only technical knowledge but also the ability to rapidly assess whether a solution is feasible and appropriate. The skill of engineering intuition (often referred to as a "gut feeling") becomes increasingly important as engineers become further removed from the problem-solving process. Today's engineers rely on sophisticated software tools where the assumptions and computations leading to a solution are hidden from the user. They must be able to evaluate whether a computer output is reasonable or ridiculous. This intuition is thought to be developed through professional experience but could also be acquired in the classroom as part of the formal development of engineering expertise. No clear definition of intuition or methods for identifying an individual's level of intuition exist despite the well-documented importance of intuition in developing expertise. The gap in knowledge and resources around engineering intuition limits educators as there is no clear path on how to develop engineering intuition in the classroom. A definition and means of measuring engineering intuition is needed to equip engineering educators with the tools to create classroom activities that promote intuition development as currently engineers must rely on variable experiences and opportunities to gain intuition. Furthermore, building intuition has the potential to foster student confidence, which disproportionately affects the persistence and resilience of underrepresented minorities in engineering majors and careers. The link between intuition, experience, and access to opportunity can empower students to persist in engineering careers and narrow the existing opportunity gaps in engineering.This project initially defines engineering intuition as the ability to assess solution feasibility and predict outcomes or options within an engineering scenario. The project will begin by interviewing practicing expert engineers to determine the alignment of their definition of intuition with ours and identify the constructs that encompass engineering intuition. This study will use a mixed-methods approach to provide qualitative insights into expert engineering intuition that can be leveraged to create a quantitative instrument with acceptable validity and reliability evidence to support further use by engineering scholars and educators. Grounded in frameworks for expertise development such as the Dreyfus model and Fuzz-Trace Theory, the project aims to answer the following research questions: (1) What are practicing professional engineers' perceptions of discipline-specific intuition and its use in the workplace?; (2) Where does intuition manifest in expert engineering decision-making and problem-solving processes?; (3) How does the motivation and identity of practicing professional engineers relate to discipline-specific intuition?; and (4) What would an instrument designed to validly and reliably measure engineering intuition look like? The proposed research bridges the theory-to-practice gap to develop engineering intuition by defining intuition and its relationship to other constructs (e.g., motivation) and developing a procedure for measuring and identifying how discipline-specific intuition is developed.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.

工程师的任务是设计，开发和构建解决复杂问题的解决方案。从本质上讲，他们的决策可能会产生关键后果，例如在航天飞机挑战者灾难和波音737 MAX 8传感器事件中。在这两个事件中，工程师都清除了车辆飞行。避免这种工程错误不仅需要技术知识，而且还需要快速评估解决方案是否可行且适当的能力。随着工程师从解决问题的过程中进一步删除，工程直觉的技巧（通常称为“肠感”）变得越来越重要。当今的工程师依靠复杂的软件工具，在这些软件工具中，导致解决方案的假设和计算被用户隐藏了。他们必须能够评估计算机输出是合理还是荒谬的。人们认为这种直觉是通过专业经验来开发的，但也可以在课堂上作为工程专业知识的正式发展的一部分获得。尽管有充分文献记录的直觉在发展专业知识中的重要性，但仍未明确地定义直觉或方法来识别个人的直觉水平。知识和资源围绕工程直觉的差距限制了教育者，因为如何在课堂上开发工程直觉没有明确的途径。需要一种定义和手段来衡量工程直觉，以为工程教育者提供工具来创建课堂活动，以促进直觉开发，因为目前工程师必须依靠可变的经验和机会来获得直觉。此外，建筑直觉有可能培养学生的信心，这对工程专业和职业的代表性少数群体的持久性和韧性不成比例。直觉，经验和获得机会之间的联系可以使学生能够坚持工程职业，并缩小工程中现有的机会差距。该项目最初将工程直觉定义为评估解决方案可行性并在工程方案中预测结果或选择的能力。该项目将首先采访实践专家工程师，以确定其直觉的定义与我们的定义保持一致，并确定涵盖工程直觉的结构。这项研究将使用一种混合方法来提供对专家工程直觉的定性见解，可以利用这些洞察力来创建具有可接受的有效性和可靠性证据的定量工具，以支持工程学者和教育工作者的进一步使用。该项目以诸如DREYFUS模型和模糊轨道理论之类的专业知识发展框架为基础，旨在回答以下研究问题：（1）实践专业工程师对纪律特定直觉及其在工作场所中的使用是什么？（2）直觉在专家工程决策和解决问题的过程中在哪里表现出来？（3）实践专业工程师的动机和身份与特定于纪律的直觉有何关系？（4）一种旨在有效且可靠地衡量工程直觉的仪器将是什么样的？拟议的研究桥接了实践差距，通过定义直觉及其与其他结构的关系（例如动机）（例如，动机）的关系，并开发了一种衡量和确定纪律特异性直觉的程序。该奖项如何通过评估NSF的法定任务来评估NSF的法定任务，并通过评估基金会的范围进行了评估和广泛的影响。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（6）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Predicting and Evaluating Engineering Problem Solving (PEEPS): Instrument Development

预测和评估工程问题解决 (PEEPS)：仪器开发

DOI：
发表时间：
2021
期刊：
Research in Engineering Education Symposium & Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference
影响因子：
0
作者：
Martin, Kaela M.;Miskioglu, Elif;Noble, Cooper;McIntyre, Allison;Bolton, Caroline;Carberry, Adam R.
通讯作者：
Carberry, Adam R.

Is it Rocket Science or Brain Science? Developing an Approach to Measure Engineering Intuition

是火箭科学还是脑科学？

DOI：
发表时间：
2021
期刊：
2021 ASEE Annual Conference
影响因子：
0
作者：
Miskioglu, E.;Martin, K. M.;Carberry, A. R.;Bolton, C.;Aaron, C.
通讯作者：
Aaron, C.

Practicing Engineers’ Definition of Their Expertise: Emergent Themes and Frequency by Gender Identity and Role Change into Management

执业工程师的专业知识定义：按性别认同和管理角色转变划分的新兴主题和频率

DOI：
发表时间：
2021
期刊：
2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference
影响因子：
0
作者：
Bolton, C.;Miskioğlu, E.;Martin, K. M.;Aaron, C.;Carberry, A. R.
通讯作者：
Carberry, A. R.

Update on is it Rocket Science or Brain Science? Developing an Approach to Measure Engineering Intuition

更新是火箭科学还是脑科学？

DOI：
发表时间：
2022
期刊：
2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
影响因子：
0
作者：
Miskioglu, Elif;Carberry, Adam;Martin, Kaela;Kavale, Sanjeev;Bolton, Caroline;Aaron, Caitlyn;Roth, Madeline
通讯作者：
Roth, Madeline

Work In Progress: Experts’ Perceptions of Engineering Intuition

正在进行的工作：专家对工程直觉的看法