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Engineering design that requires mathematical analysis, scientific understanding, and technology is critical for preparing students for solving engineering problems. In simulated design environments, students are expected to learn about science and engineering through their design. However, there is a lack of understanding concerning linking science concepts with design problems to design artifacts. This study investigated how 99 high school students applied science concepts to solarize their school using a computer-aided engineering design software, aiming to explore the interaction between students’ science concepts and engineering design behaviors. Students were assigned to three groups based on their design performance: the achieving group, proficient group, and emerging group. By mining log activities, we explored the interactions among students’ application of science concepts, engineering design behaviors, design iterations, and their design performance. We found that the achieving group has a statistically higher number of design iterations than the other two performance groups. We also identified distinctive transition patterns in students’ applying science concepts and exercising design behaviors among three groups. The implications of this study are then discussed. 

Understanding the design process may reveal when and where resources should be focused and how engineers can better use tools, methods, and techniques to enhance the quality of designs and creative performance. The literature suggests the importance of iterative evaluation and reformulation in the engineering design process. The current study collected 111 high school students’ logs of designing an energy-saving house in Energy3D, a computer-aided design environment. Using a cross-lag model, we investigated the reciprocal relationship between students’ evaluation and reformulation behaviors and how these behaviors influence students’ design performance at the early, middle, and final design stages. The results suggest that there is a positive predictive relationship between students’ evaluation and reformulation process; reformulation positively predicts design performance and mediates the relationship between evaluation and design performance across time. These results provide empirical evidence of the importance of iterative evaluation and reformulation in the design process and implications for teachers and system designers to support students’ design.