Introducing Creativity In A Design Laboratory For A Freshman Level Electrical And Computer Engineering Course

Burkett, S. L.; Kotru, Sushma; Lusth, John C.; McCallum, Debra Moehle; Dunlap, Sarah T.

doi:10.19030/ajee.v5i1.8608

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Nonetheless, this approach makes creative ideas more difficult to be selected for students (Rietzschel et al 2010). On the other hand, learning and generating ideas in open-ended environments, such as makerspaces, was recognized by engineering students as being more difficult and time consuming than in traditional laboratories, since those spaces require more creativity and problem solving skills (Burkett et al 2014), which are part of new curricular standards in the United States and elsewhere (NGSS Lead States, 2013).…”

Section: Stem Instructions Creativity and Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Highly Scaffolded Versus General Instruction on Students’ Exploratory Behavior and Arousal

Blikstein¹,

Gomes

Akiba

et al. 2016

Tech Know Learn

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Technology is changing the way students interact with knowledge, and openended activities are one of the main types of tasks that students engage with in technologyrich environments. However, the amount of guidance needed to promote learning in these environments remains unknown. We explore this issue by focusing on the effects of stepby-step versus generic instructions on student's exploratory behavior and arousal levels. In this experiment, students completed three computer-based activities within a physics simulation software: building a tower, building a bridge and a free task. We did not find any effect of our experimental manipulation on students' task performance. We found, however, that detailed instruction induced higher level of activation followed by a relaxation phase and a recovery of the activation level in the last segment of the task (U-shaped curve). On the other hand, generic instructions seemed to lead students into a continuous relaxation pattern along the task (decreasing slope). Moreover, low and high-aroused students appear to be affected by the instructions differently, with high-aroused students at baseline showing less cognitive flexibility. Finally, we observed carryover effects, where types of instruction kept influencing students' levels of activation in a following openended task. We discuss implications of those results for designing learning activities in constructionist, technology-rich environments.

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Section: Stem Instructions Creativity and Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Highly Scaffolded Versus General Instruction on Students’ Exploratory Behavior and Arousal

Blikstein¹,

Gomes

Akiba

et al. 2016

Tech Know Learn

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Creativity is known as an important characteristic for engineers and managers who are practicing their profession in a global society, especially for high-tech industries (e.g. aerospace industries) (Burkett et al , 2014). However, creative thinking (CT), as a tangible characteristic of individuals (Abedi, 2002), cannot singly improve creative and innovative products and increase organizational development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of TRIZ on enhancing employees’ creativity and innovation

Jafari

Zarghami

2017

AEAT

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Purpose Regarding the important roles of creativity and innovation for accomplishing innovative missions in aerospace industries, this study aims to explore the impact of a three-month TRIZ (an engineering problem-solving toolkit) training workshop on enhancing three important creativity- and innovation-related characteristics of employees in Iran aerospace industries. Design/methodology/approach A three-month TRIZ educational program was run. Three standard questionnaires were used for assessing creative thinking (CT), need for cognition (NFC) and interest in work innovation (IWI). From different scientific sectors of aerospace industries, 290 participants took part in completing pre- and post-test questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed by the related statistical methods (the sign test, correlation analysis and descriptive statistics). Findings The results indicate that the TRIZ training workshop directly enhanced CT, NFC and IWI scores, and that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between these characteristics. Also, the results of the correlation analysis of these variables and the demographic features of the participants shed light on interesting facts that can be used for decision makers and researchers of aerospace industries. Research limitations/implications This study opens a new way for further research in the analysis of the impact of problem-solving techniques on improving creativity and innovation in aerospace and other high-tech industries. Originality/value This paper may be of high value to researchers in creativity and innovation fields in the high-tech industries, including the aerospace industry. This study further facilitates decision-making by enhancing inventive problem solving in these industries. It gives valuable information and guidelines that hopefully will help managers to consider the important issues during TRIZ toolkit establishment in their organizations.

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“…In a team-based learning environment, a class of students are divided into several teams, and the members of each team work together to complete their team goale.g., a team project. Team-based learning is frequently used in engineering education (Borrego, Karlin, McNair, & Beddoes, 2013), not only during upper-division and capstone courses (e.g., Griffin, Griffin, & Llewellyn, 2004;Todd, Magleby, Sorensen, Swan, & Anthony, 1995), but also increasingly in lower-division engineering classes (e.g., Burkett, Kotru, Lusth, McCallum, & Dunlap, 2014;O'Connell, 2011). The ABET (Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology) (2016) criteria also include "(d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams" which clearly addresses the importance of educating engineering students to become effective team members.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Learners’ Attitudes Toward Team Projects: Scale Development Through Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analyses

Chyung

Winiecki

Hunt

et al. 2017

AJEE

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Team projects are increasingly used in engineering courses. Students may develop attitudes toward team projects from prior experience, and their attitudinal responses could influence their performance during team project-based learning in the future. Thus, instructors need to measure students’ attitudes toward team projects during their learner analysis to better understand students’ characteristics and be proactive in providing effective strategies to help students succeed in a team project environment. The purpose of our study was to develop a survey instrument that measures students’ attitudes toward team projects to be used as a learner analysis tool, derived from our local practical needs and due to the lack of appropriate existing instruments. The study was conducted at a mid-sized university in the northwestern United States during 2015-2016. After we generated an initial pool of 50 items, we administered the survey to 225 undergraduate engineering students, performed exploratory factor analysis on the data, and arrived at a four-factor solution of 20 items and a three-factor solution of 14 items. We tested the two competing solutions with another set of 330 undergraduate engineering students. Based on our confirmatory factor analysis results, we arrived at a three-factor model of 12 items as the finalized scale, which measures: (a) professional capacity building, (b) learning and problem-solving skills development, and (c) workload challenges. We call the scale, the Attitudes toward Team Projects Scale on Capacity, Learning, and Workload (ATPS-CLW). Suggestions for future research include continuous development, testing, and validation of the scale.

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Introducing Creativity In A Design Laboratory For A Freshman Level Electrical And Computer Engineering Course

Abstract: In the electrical and computer engineering (ECE)

Cited by 8 publications

References 39 publications

The Effect of Highly Scaffolded Versus General Instruction on Students’ Exploratory Behavior and Arousal

The Effect of Highly Scaffolded Versus General Instruction on Students’ Exploratory Behavior and Arousal

Effect of TRIZ on enhancing employees’ creativity and innovation

Measuring Learners’ Attitudes Toward Team Projects: Scale Development Through Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analyses

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