Board 414: Understanding and Scaffolding the Productive Beginnings of Engineering Judgment in Undergraduate Students

This work presents the first year of work on a project addressing the productive beginnings of engineering judgment in undergraduate engineering students. In particular, we discuss a new research question about how open-ended modeling problems (OEMPs), which engage students in engineering judgment, foster the growth of conceptual knowledge. Because OEMPs are open-ended with multiple answers, they are different from the typical well-defined “textbook” problems given in engineering science courses where students learn canonical mathematical models and apply relevant formulas to find a single correct answer. By looking at the conceptual gains that result from assigning an OEMP, we aim to convince other instructors to create and assign open-ended questions. More practice using engineering judgment will give students experience with engineering judgment before receiving their engineering degree. Ideally, this will increase the number of graduates prepared for real-world engineering application.