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.

工程师在解决当今复杂问题的解决方案的开发中发挥了至关重要的作用。现实世界的工程问题本质上是结构性不佳的，复杂的，由非工程和工程限制定义，通常包含缺失或冲突的信息，并且没有一种“正确”的解决方案，正如工程教室中通常教授的那样。为了确保工程毕业生具有竞争力并为工作场所中复杂问题所需的技能做好准备，需要努力来改善本科教育对解决问题的关注。该项目将研究土木工程中的本科生，教职员工和专业人士的结构性解决问题方法。调查将涉及确定工程专业人士和工程专业学生使用的解决问题方法之间的相似性和差异。也将研究参与者的解决问题及其个人特征（例如，经验，人口统计学，学习风格，创造力）的方法。从研究发现到教育实践的翻译将提出有关改善本科工程教育中复杂，结构性不良问题的指导的建议。教育资源将被开发和传播，以使教授和学生受益。更具体地说，该研究项目的目的是研究使用混合方法收集和数据分析方法的工程学生，教职员工和专业人员之间解决问题方法的差异。混合方法方法是这样一项研究的理想选择，因为它涉及定量和定性数据源，以提供对工程问题解决的广泛和深入研究。这项研究将招募各种各样的参与者，以使用访谈，思考和问卷调查解决结构性的问题。定量和定性数据将进行分析，以确定工程专业学生，教职员工和专业人员解决问题模式的相似性和差异。将为工程教育者开发和传播综合资源。 这样的资源将包括一本关于教学和学习不良问题的工程教师的指南，以及展示可用于工程课程的结构性解决问题技术的教学模块。该项目不仅有可能在工程背景下的复杂问题解决方面的未来研究信息，而且还可以将研究结果转化为教育实践和含义，以改善本科课堂中的问题解决。

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

Perspectives of Engineering Faculty and Practitioners on Creative Problem Solving in Solving Ill-Structured Problems

工程教师和从业者对解决结构不良问题的创造性问题解决的看法

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
• 作者: Akinci, S.;Cetin, K.S.;Ahn, B.
• 通讯作者: Ahn, B.