skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Exploring graduate students’ collaborative problem-solving in engineering design tasks
This study explored seven engineering graduate students’ collaborative problem-solving (CPS) skills while working in interdisciplinary teams. Students worked in two different teams, in face-to-face and online environments, to solve complex manufacturing design challenges posed by their instructor. The students were assessed using an observational rubric with four dimensions: peer interactions, positive communication, tools and methods and iteration and adaption, and scored via each dimension’s associated attributes, and subsequently interviewed. Six students scored emergent or proficient in CPS and had slightly higher CPS scores during the second observation. One student demonstrated a limited ability for CPS and the observable CPS skills decreased during the project. Interviews revealed the importance of (1) relying on instructor and student chosen technologies for collaborative tasks, (2) recognising and drawing on peer expertise early in the project, (3) building trust during and outside of team meetings and (4) valuing off-site and online collaborative work. Findings advance the understanding of how graduate students working in interdisciplinary teams rely on particular features of collaboration to solve engineering design challenges, which may assist in developing future skills and fostering productive teamwork.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1829008
PAR ID:
10284414
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Engineering Design
ISSN:
0954-4828
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 21
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; (, European Journal of Engineering Education)
    Manufacturing engineers work in teams with a wide range of skills and credentials. Teamwork and collaborative problem solving (CPS) skills enable higher productivity and efficiency. However, these skills are largely absent from engineering education curricula and research in contexts involving multi-educational teams inclusive of technical college engineering students. We address this gap in research and practice through a qualitative case study exploring the contributions, experiences, and perspectives of technical college students working in multi-educational level teams to solve real-world engineering manufacturing problems. Data analyses resulted in six themes: (1) positive team culture, (2) valuing industry skills, (3) sharing responsibilities to iteratively make changes, (4) applying technical roles, (5) peer interactions, and (6) career preparation. Technical college students’ perceptions of challenges and successes are also discussed. Results imply that to effectively promote CPS and teamwork in similar contexts educators and industry leaders should consider the importance of (1) valuing students’/workers’ current professional identities while promoting productive conflict, (2) respecting differing team roles while encouraging skill development, and (3) fostering future career skills. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, International Society of the Learning Sciences Repository)
    Learning algebra concepts, particularly those involving functions, is crucial yet challenging in mathematics education. Research suggests that collaborative learning, where students work in small teams to solve math problems, can support conceptual learning. However, collaborative problem solving (CPS) is complex and requires students’ social and cognitive skills for success. This study investigates the impacts of guided facilitation on supporting CPS in mathematics tasks during small-team collaboration. Using epistemic network analysis and sequential pattern mining, we analyzed chat logs from student teams and human facilitators and compared the interactions in facilitated and unfacilitated teams. Results indicated that near-peer facilitation effectively promoted constructive behaviors like multiple turns of social negotiation, while reducing inappropriate communications. Different facilitation strategies, such as encouraging students to respond to each other or clarify their statements, elicited targeted CPS behaviors, possibly leading to improved team performance. Findings have practical implications for facilitating CPS in mathematics classrooms. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference)
    null (Ed.)
    This research paper examines the influence of interpersonal interactions on the course-level persistence intentions of online undergraduate engineering students. Online learning is increasing in enrollment and importance in engineering education. Online courses also continue to confront issues with comparatively higher course dropout levels than face-to-face courses. This study correspondingly explores relevant student perceptions of their online course experiences to better understand the factors that contribute to students’ choices to remain in or drop out of their online undergraduate engineering courses. Data presented in this study were collected during fall 2019 and spring 2020 from three ABET-accredited online undergraduate engineering courses at a large southwestern public university: electrical engineering, engineering management, and software engineering. Participants were asked to respond to surveys at 12-time points during their 7.5-week online course. Each survey measured students’ perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and peer support for completing the course. Participants also reported their intentions to persist in the course during each survey administration. A multi-level modeling analysis revealed that LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and peer support are related to course persistence intentions. Time was also a significant predictor of persistence intentions and indicated that the course persistence intentions decrease towards the end of the course. Additionally, interactions between demographic variables and other predictors (perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and perceptions of peer support) were significant. With the increase in perceptions of course LMS dialog, perceptions of instructor practices, and perceptions of peer support, there was a relatively smaller increase in the persistence intentions of veterans than non-veterans. There is relatively more increase in the persistence intentions of females than males as their perceptions of instructor practices increase. Finally, increasing perceptions of peer support led to a relatively larger increase in the persistence intentions of non-transfer students than transfer students and a relatively smaller increase in persistence intentions of students working full-time than other students. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Education Sciences)
    This study explores undergraduate engineering and education students’ perspectives on their interdisciplinary teams throughout the rapid transition to online learning and instruction from a face-to-face to a virtual format. In this qualitative study, students’ reflections and focus groups from three interdisciplinary collaborations were analyzed using the lens of Social Cognitive Theory. COVID-19 created a dramatic change in the environment such that the most immediate and direct impact on students’ experiences was on the environmental aspects of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal determinism model, which then triggered behavioral and personal responses to adapt to the new environment. Subsequent evidence of reciprocal effects between environmental, behavioral, and personal factors took place as students continued to adapt. Results suggest that the modifications made to transition the project fully online were meaningful experiences for students’ learning and teaching of engineering through teams. This interdisciplinary partnership provided both pre-service teachers and undergraduate engineering students with the opportunity to learn and practice content and professional skills that will be essential for success in future work environments. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, ASEE Conferences)
    This work-in-progress paper describes engineering students’ experiences in an NSF-funded project that partnered undergraduate engineering students with pre-service teachers to plan and deliver robotics lessons to fifth graders at a local school. This project aims to address an apparent gap between what is taught in academia and industry’s expectations of engineers to integrate perspectives from outside their field to solve modern societal problems requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Working in small teams over Zoom, participating engineering, education, and fifth grade students designed, built, and coded bio-inspired COVID companion robots. The goal for the engineering students was to build new interprofessional skills, while reinforcing technical skills. The collaborative activities included: (1) training with Hummingbird BitTM hardware (e.g. sensors, servo motors) and coding platform, (2) preparing robotics lessons for fifth graders that explained the engineering design process (EDP), and (3) guiding the fifth graders in the design of their robots. Additionally, each undergraduate engineering student designed a robot following the theme developed with their preservice teacher and fifth grade partners. The intervention took place in Spring 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating the investigators to make critical decisions to address challenges of implementing the intervention in an online setting. This paper describes those decisions as it investigates how the cross-disciplinary, mixed-aged collaboration with preservice teachers and fifth graders impacted undergraduate engineering students’ learning and investment during the design process of their robots. Preliminary results of a regression analysis revealed a relationship between the engineering students’ robot rankings and post-scores on the design process knowledge survey (r = 0.92). Consistencies and a few anomalies in this pattern were explained using qualitative reflections which were analyzed to determine students’ level of investment in the project, overall perceptions, and the extent to which they focused on the fifth graders’ ideas in their designs. In general, robot quality was linked to both undergraduate engineering students’ level of investment and whether they focused on the fifth graders’ ideas in their designs. Engineering students’ overall perceptions of the project were generally positive, appreciating the role of cross-disciplinary and mixed-aged collaborations in their learning to brainstorm innovative solutions and interact effectively with professionals outside of engineering as they embark on tackling societal problems in the real world. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email