Examining the Role of Contextual Exercises and Adaptive Expertise on CAD Model Creation Procedures

Measuring Adaptive Expertise in Engineering Education

“…Results indicated that there was a positive correlation between the amount of time spent modeling and adaptive expertise behaviors shown in the interview. Responses on the adaptive expertise self-report measure were also positively correlated with increased time of modeling when in contextual exercises [5] . These results highlight the importance of context and adaptive expertise qualities when it comes to a student's education.…”

“…Think-a-louds, [3] interviews [1] , and self-report surveys [4] [1] [5][6] [7] have all been used to measure adaptive expertise, with the most common method of measurement being the Adaptive Expertise Beliefs Survey. The current study aims to examine whether a difference in adaptive expertise, as measured by the Adaptive Beliefs Survey, exists between two separate design course sections.…”

“…This balance permits adapting previous knowledge into new situations while remaining productive and efficient. Derived from Piaget's theory on cognitive development [10] , adaptive expertise, for the purpose of this study, is defined as the ability to apply knowledge gained through prior experiences to novel situations in which key parts of information are missing [5] .…”

“…Thus, self-report surveys, where students are asked to self-report gains, may require less time for both development and administration than pre and post tests. Johnson et al [5] examined the effects of contextual modeling exercises in CAD on the production of behaviors associated with adaptive expertise. The researchers used a combination of student interviews and responses on a self-report measure in an attempt to assess changes in adaptive expertise.…”

“…Researchers have used the adaptive expertise beliefs survey to measure adaptive expertise in computer-aided design modeling students [5] [7] , biomedical engineering students [1] , first generation and non-first generation students [7] , and special educators [4] . Preliminary results from the use of the survey suggested that adaptability increases the longer a student is in school (freshman to senior).…”