Human-Centered and Psychological Concepts in Undergraduate Engineering Project Documentation

Abstract

The success of engineering and design is facilitated by a working understanding of human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In this study, we explored how undergraduate engineering students included such human-centered and psychological concepts in their project documentation. Although, we observed a range of concepts related to design processes, teams, cognition, and motivation, these concepts appeared infrequently and superficially. We discuss how this analysis and approach may help to identify topics that could be leveraged for future human-centered engineering instruction.

Teaching psychology to future engineers.

“…One prior investigation observed that psychological concepts were rarely referenced in engineering students’ project documentation (Roscoe, Arnold, & Johnson, 2020). Researchers analyzed over 200 reports from an introductory engineering course wherein students redesigned “the future of being a passenger.” Overall, fewer than 10% of projects mentioned design thinking steps (e.g., empathy, problem-solving, and evaluation; see Dym et al, 2005; Razzouk & Shute, 2012), and fewer than 5% mentioned aspects of teamwork (e.g., consensus and delegation).…”

“…One prior investigation observed that psychological concepts were rarely referenced in engineering students' project documentation (Roscoe, Arnold, & Johnson, 2020). Researchers analyzed over 200 reports from an introductory engineering course wherein students redesigned "the future of being a passenger."…”