DesignEng · Designing Engineers: Harnessing the Power of Design Projects to Spur Cognitive and Epistemological Development of STEM Students
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-01-01 → 2019-12-31
- EU contribution
- €183,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
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Results in brief
Designing Engineers: Harnessing the Power of Design Projects to Spur Cognitive and Epistemological Development of STEM Students
The Action “Designing Engineers: Harnessing the Power of Design Projects to Spur Cognitive and Epistemological Development of STEM Students” looks at how engineering and architecture students learn, and how design projects and teamwork affect students’ thinking and overall development. The research questions how students learn to design and how their thinking changes over time with regard to what knowledge is, where it comes from, and how it gets validated; their views on this constitute their epistemologies. Such topics are important because society needs more engineers and more STEM graduates. Not only is there widespread lack of engagement, but problems also have been identified in graduate engineers’ ability to think holistically—today’s graduates do not seem prepared to identify and address global challenges in the comprehensive way society needs. Although engineering is often perceived as a dry, technical subject there is great room for creativity. Architecture programs around the world are filled with highly engaged students. In engineering, there has been a move to teach in more active, hands-on, project-based ways that incorporate design, as done in architecture. Engineering can learn from architecture’s historic success in engaging and teaching students to design, but engineering has placed more focus than architecture has on understanding how students learn. The fields of engineering and architecture education have much to learn from each other. Objectives of this Marie Skłodowska Curie Action (MSCA) have been to (a) develop and promote better ways to teach and support STEM students; (b) help transform engineering into a more diverse and creative field; and (c) investigate questions surrounding the theme: To what extents do design projects influence the cognitive and epistemological development of undergraduates in engineering and architecture? A parallel goal of the MSCA Individual Fellowship is to foster the development of the individual researcher.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Germany fell 76,400 engineers short in 2011. Britain falls short 55,000 engineers every year. Such deficits adversely affect Europe’s R&D, patent filings, and tech production. Failure to attract women exacerbates the crisis. Europe urgently needs diverse engineers who can work collaboratively and creatively. Why does engineering struggle to attract students when architecture courses fill with women and men? Education experts (Boyer and Mitgang) say architects learn in more hands-on and effective ways than engineers. Which techniques can be transferred to make engineering more compelling?This project will generate new understandings of how students develop knowledge-production skills. While receiving crucial training at University College London, Prof Chance will investigate overlaps between epistemology (a field that asks “What is knowledge? How is it made and verified?”) and design thinking (“How is knowledge made and used in the process of design?”). She will collect data in four European countries—evaluating the role of design projects in the learning, epistemological development, and retention of students—with a focus on women’s experiences. Overall objectives are to: (1) develop and promote better ways to teach and support STEM students; (2) help transform engineering into a more diverse and creative field; and (3) investigate questions surrounding the theme: To what extents do design projects influence the cognitive and epistemological development of undergraduates in engineering and architecture?The approach draws from Dr Chance’s unique multidisciplinary skill set and state-of-the-art: (1) practices in architecture education, (2) research in engineering education, and (3) theories of student development. She will produce mixed-methods research in a ground-breaking field, new/pilot-tested assignment briefs and a special focus journal to help revolutionize engineering teaching, and outreach/communication to crucial audiences.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union