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

利用工程设计原型提高工科本科生的沟通和论证能力

• 批准号: 1916386
• 负责人: Jessica Menold
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 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: 2019-07-15 至 2023-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1916386&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Using; Engineering; Design; Prototypes; Improve

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.

该项目旨在通过提高工科学生有效沟通的能力来服务国家利益。 鉴于工程设计的定义不明确、复杂且技术性日益增强，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演示上。这项工作研究了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，特别是作为通信工具。 然而，原型帮助本科生学习如何有效沟通的潜在用途尚未得到充分探索。该项目将通过描述工程本科生的沟通策略来弥补这一差距。 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、捍卫和倡导具体的设计决策。 这个参与的学生学习项目包括一项多种方法的研究，旨在调查在基于团队的顶点设计课程中进行原型制作活动的工程专业学生，并描述他们在向设计审查小组“推销”原型时的口头沟通策略。 据预测，这些数据对于理解学生作为工程学科成员社会化时所使用的语言和学科话语的变化非常有价值。 这项研究还旨在了解学生对这一转变的看法。该项目有四个指导性研究问题：（1）学生如何使用原型传达他们的设计意图和项目成果？ (2) 在与原型沟通设计意图时，学生将设计解决方案的成功或失败归因于哪些因素？ (3) 学生在多大程度上意识到他们使用原型的交流模式？ (4) 可以开发哪些方法来实现点对点形成性反馈？ 该项目得到了 NSF 改善本科生 STEM 教育计划：教育和人力资源的支持，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。 通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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。

项目成果

NOVICE DESIGNERS' USE OF PROTOTYPES AS COMMUNICATION TOOLS

新手设计师使用原型作为沟通工具

• DOI: 10.1017/pds.2021.489
• 发表时间: 2021-08
• 期刊: Proceedings of the Design Society
• 作者: Krishnakumar, Sandeep;Lauff, Carlye;McComb, Christopher;Berdanier, Catherine;Menold, Jessica
• 通讯作者: Menold, Jessica

Evaluating the Effect of Project Frame on Communicative Patterns in Capstone Design Pitches

评估项目框架对顶点设计推介中沟通模式的影响

• DOI: 10.1115/detc2022-91229
• 发表时间: 2022-08
• 期刊: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• 作者: Link, Samantha;Krishnakumar, Sandeep;Menold, Jessica
• 通讯作者: Menold, Jessica

Lost in Translation: Examining the Complex Relationship Between Prototyping and Communication

迷失在翻译中：检查原型设计与沟通之间的复杂关系

• DOI: 10.1115/1.4049885
• 发表时间: 2021-09
• 期刊: Journal of Mechanical Design
• 影响因子: 3.3
• 作者: Krishnakumar, Sandeep;Berdanier, Catherine;McComb, Christopher;Menold, Jessica
• 通讯作者: Menold, Jessica

Comparing Student and Sponsor Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Teams’ Capstone Performance

比较学生和赞助商对跨学科团队的看法 – 顶点表现

• DOI: 10.1115/detc2020-22099
• 发表时间: 2020-08
• 期刊: ASME 2020 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference
• 作者: Krishnakumar, Sandeep;Berdanier, Catherine;McComb, Christopher;Parkinson, Matthew;Menold, Jessica
• 通讯作者: Menold, Jessica