Collaborative Research: Bridging the Gap Between Academia and Industry in Approaches for Solving Ill-Structured Problems

合作研究：弥合学术界和工业界在解决结构不良问题的方法上的差距

• 批准号: 2013144
• 负责人: Kristen Cetin
• 金额: $ 6.98万
• 依托单位: Michigan State 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: 2019-08-16 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2013144&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Bridging; Gap; Between

Engineers play a crucial role in the development of solutions to today's complex problems. Real world engineering problems are inherently ill-structured, complex, defined by both non-engineering and engineering constraints, often contain missing or conflicting information, and do not have one 'correct' solution as typically taught in engineering classrooms. In order to ensure that engineering graduates are competitive and well-prepared with the skills necessary for the complex problems in the workplace, efforts are needed to improve undergraduate education's focus on solving problems. This project will examine the ill-structured problem solving approaches of undergraduate students, faculty, and professionals within civil engineering. The investigation will involve identifying similarities and differences between problem solving approaches used by engineering professionals and engineering students. Participants' approaches to problem solving and their personal characteristics (e.g., years of experience, demographics, learning style, creativity) will also be studied. Translation from research findings to educational practice will result in recommendations on improving the instruction of complex, ill-structured problem solving in undergraduate engineering education. Educational resources will be developed and disseminated widely to benefit both professors and students. More specifically, the goal of this research project is to investigate differences in the problem solving approaches among engineering students, faculty, and professionals using a mixed-methods data collection and data analysis approach. A mixed-methods approach is ideal for such a study as it involves both quantitative and qualitative data sources to offer a broad and deep examination of engineering problem solving. A diverse set of participants will be recruited for this study to solve ill-structured problems using interviews, think-a-louds, and questionnaires. The quantitative and qualitative data will be analyzed to determine similarities and differences in the patterns of problem solving across engineering students, faculty, and professionals. Comprehensive resources will be developed and disseminated for engineering educators. Such resources will include a guidebook for engineering faculty on the teaching and learning of ill-structured problems, as well as instructional modules demonstrating ill-structured problem solving techniques that can be used in engineering courses. This project has the potential to not only inform future research studies in the area of complex problem solving in engineering contexts, but also for research findings to be translated to educational practice and implications to improve problem solving in undergraduate classrooms.

工程师在开发当今复杂问题的解决方案中发挥着至关重要的作用。现实世界的工程问题本质上是结构不良、复杂的，由非工程和工程约束定义，通常包含缺失或冲突的信息，并且没有工程课堂上通常教授的一种“正确”解决方案。为了确保工程毕业生具有竞争力并具备应对工作场所复杂问题所需的技能，需要努力提高本科教育对解决问题的关注度。该项目将研究土木工程领域本科生、教师和专业人员结构不良的问题解决方法。调查将涉及确定工程专业人士和工程学生使用的问题解决方法之间的异同。还将研究参与者解决问题的方法及其个人特征（例如，经验年限、人口统计、学习风格、创造力）。将研究成果转化为教育实践，将为改善本科工程教育中复杂、结构不良的问题解决教学提出建议。将开发和广泛传播教育资源，使教授和学生受益。更具体地说，该研究项目的目标是使用混合方法的数据收集和数据分析方法来调查工程学生、教师和专业人员之间解决问题方法的差异。混合方法是此类研究的理想选择，因为它涉及定量和定性数据源，可以对工程问题的解决提供广泛而深入的检查。本研究将招募不同的参与者，通过访谈、大声思考和问卷调查来解决结构不良的问题。将分析定量和定性数据，以确定工程专业学生、教师和专业人员解决问题模式的异同。将为工程教育工作者开发和传播综合资源。 此类资源将包括工程教师关于结构不良问题的教学和学习的指南，以及展示可在工程课程中使用的结构不良问题解决技术的教学模块。该项目不仅有可能为工程环境中复杂问题解决领域的未来研究提供信息，而且有可能将研究成果转化为教育实践，并为改善本科生课堂问题解决提供启示。

项目成果

Bridging the Gap Between Academia and Industry in Approaches for Solving Ill-Structured Problems: Problem Formulation and Protocol Development

弥合学术界和工业界在解决结构不良问题的方法方面的差距：问题制定和协议开发

• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
• 作者: Akinci-Ceylan, Secil;Cetin, Kristen Sara;Fleming, Renee;Ahn, Benjamin;Surovek, Andrea;Cetin, Bora;Taylor, Paige
• 通讯作者: Taylor, Paige

Examining Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Perceptions of Solving an Ill-Structured Problem in Civil Engineering

检查工程本科生对解决土木工程中结构不良问题的看法

• DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34622
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference
• 作者: Akinci-Ceylan, S;Cetin, KS;Ahn, B;Cetin, B
• 通讯作者: Cetin, B

Connecting Dots: Coding Multiple Data Sources to Enhance Qualitative Analysis

连接点：对多个数据源进行编码以增强定性分析

• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
• 作者: Bir, Devayan D.;Ahn, Benjamin;Cetin, Bora;Akinci-Ceylan, Cecil;Cetin, Kristen S.;Surovek, Andrea E.;Lerdal, Kristin;Anton, Mary M.;Thompson, Kyle R
• 通讯作者: Thompson, Kyle R

Investigating Problem-Solving Processes of Students, Faculty, and Practicing Engineers in Civil Engineering

调查土木工程专业学生、教师和执业工程师解决问题的过程

• DOI: 10.1061/(asce)ei.2643-9115.0000054
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of Civil Engineering Education
• 影响因子: 1.6
• 作者: Akinci-Ceylan, Secil;Cetin, Kristen S.;Ahn, Benjamin;Surovek, Andrea;Cetin, Bora
• 通讯作者: Cetin, Bora

A Qualitative Analysis of How a Student, Faculty, and Practicing Engineer Approach an Ill-structured Engineering Problem

对学生、教师和执业工程师如何解决结构不良的工程问题的定性分析

• DOI: 10.18260/1-2--34039
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Proceedings of the 2020 American Society of Engineering Education Virtual Conference
• 作者: Akinci-Ceylan, Secil;Cetin, Kristen;Ahn, Benjamin;Cetin, Bora;Surovek, Andrea
• 通讯作者: Surovek, Andrea