Challenges Students Face in Solving Open-Ended Problems

Several core aerospace engineering courses at SJSU have been re-designed in an effort to help students develop problem-solving skills. This re-design includes (a) explicit definition of skills and attributes students need to develop to become capable problem-solvers, ( ) inclusion of open-ended problems in each of several key, junior-level, core courses, (c) coaching students in the use of Wood's Problem-Solving Methodology, and (d) development of rubrics to evaluate student performance at each step of this methodology. The paper discusses the application of this process and, in particular, it presents an assessment of student performance in two courses: fluid mechanics and aerodynamics. The focus of this study is to identify specific difficulties students face while solving open-ended problems and specific steps they can take to overcome these difficulties.

His research activities are in the areas of active learning, problem solving, critical thinking, and use of qualitative methodologies in engineering education. Specifically, he has published and presented work on the use of guided inquiry as an active learning technique for engineering; how critical thinking is used in practice by students; and how different epistemological stances are enacted in engineering education research. He has been involved in faculty development activities

Proceedings. Frontiers in Education. 36th Annual Conference, 2006

The paper describes a flexible, problem-based approach to integrating engineering courses. Students work in teams to identify, research, and study a current problem that involves applications from each of the courses involved. Two pairs of aerospace engineering courses were used to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this idea: (a) aerodynamics and flight mechanics, and (b) compressible flow and aerospace propulsion. The courses in each pair lend themselves easily to integration because one sets the foundation for applications in the other.

1999 Annual Conference, 1999

2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)

This full research-to-practice paper is a collaboration between researchers and instructors to examine the scaffolding of open-ended problems. Most assigned homework problems are closed-ended with one correct answer and are unlike the ill-defined problems practicing engineers solve in the workplace. To begin bridging this gap, our research team of engineering education researchers and instructors have been designing and implementing ill-defined, open-ended homework problems for the past three years. This study presents instructor reflections on considerations for scaffolding open-ended problems, made after examining survey data from their own students. We present the results in six practices of scaffolding that better support students in their solving of the problems.

38th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 2000

Challenging problems and research have been considered as vital components of Aerospace Engineering curricula. Some Engineering, Computer Science, and Math Courses in American colleges have been analyzed to find positive factors that would be helpful in mutually beneficial cooperation between colleges and industry. The analysis of traditional and modern applications of the course concepts [design of a hypersonic vehicle, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, anisotropic media and liquid crystals, properties of Martian atmospheric gases, non-monotone aerodynamic coefficients of simple-shape bodies, etc.] and ways of collaboration between industry and universities have been discussed. Students' "mistakes" have been reviewed allowing to generate new research ideas and numerical algorithms, as well as to discover new physical phenomena. Challenge in the classroom allows motivating students in the analysis of modern engineering concepts, developing strong background and research skills, finding unique solutions of new problems, and preparing students for success and surviving in industrial environment.

2017

Recently there have been multiple calls to improve undergraduate engineering education and incorporate high-impact practices through the undergraduate curriculum. Within engineering education, one method to address these calls is to provide students with the opportunity to solve ill-structured problems throughout their undergraduate studies. The goals of this work are to present an ill-structured problem assignment that was used within a first-year physics course for engineering students and the outcomes of a preliminary research study to understand the challenges students face when solving an ill-structured problem. The problem assignment gave students the opportunity to write and solve an ill-structured problem of their choice related to the course context. For the research study, we analyzed students’ responses to open-ended survey questions to understand how students approached specific aspects of the assignment and what they found challenging. We identified how students selecte...

2015

Abstract—This paper discusses the need for academia to be more responsive to the needs of students and society. The slow speed of change in academia is causing our educational programs to lose value. Technology has been advancing at an exponential rate for decades, yet academia changes at almost glacial speed. While the example used herein (engineering, and in particular aerospace engineering) is one familiar to the author, the ideas in this paper may well apply to all academic disciplines, including Science and Liberal Arts. The problems are due to rapid changes in technology, inflated bureaucracies at universities, the emphasis on revenue and research, and limits to human learning. There is no question that this is the Information Age, yet academia has not adjusted to this dramatic new world. Students need to understand this and be pro-active to prepare themselves for the future and choose the

… of the 2002 American Society for …, 2002

Problem-based learning is now a widespread teaching method in disciplines where students must learn to apply knowledge, not just acquire it. In the undergraduate curriculum in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, problem-based learning and designbuild experiences are integrated throughout the program. In an early freshman-year experience, Introduction to Aerospace and Design, students design, build, and fly radiocontrolled lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles. In the sophomore-year Unified Engineering course, students design, build, and fly radio-controlled electric propulsion aircraft. In a course on Aerodynamics, a case study from either industry or government is used to provide an authentic problem. Upper-level capstone courses are entirely problem-based. In these PBL experiences, students identify problems of interest to them and experiment to find solutions, as well as design complex systems that integrate engineering fundamentals in a multidisciplinary approach. This paper describes several problembased learning experiences in undergraduate aerospace engineering at MIT within a fourlevel framework for categorizing problems. It presents the learning theories that underlie the success of PBL, identifies the basic characteristics of PBL, critical features in the design of problems, and effective methods for assessing PBL.

2004

A new engineering curriculum was introduced at K.U.Leuven together with the transition to the bachelor-master system. The students take a new course 'Problem Solving and Engineering Design' to introduce them from the first semester onwards into real engineering practice and teamwork. Throughout the three semesters of the first phase of the bachelor, a gradual transition from solving closed engineering problems to working on open-end design projects is implemented. The teamwork is much more coached and monitored in the first semester than in the third semester. The new course was introduced in September 2003 and was taken by all 420 freshman engineering students. Formal student feedback was obtained at the end of the first semester. The overall feedback was very positive. Only few student teams had to be catalogued as performing rather poorly. The vast majority of the students appreciated this new course and commented that they had learned more in a team than when they had to do the same tasks alone. The integration of the team assignments with the other regular courses will be improved before the start of the next academic year.