WIP: The Epistemic Practices Engineering Students Used to Solve an Open-Ended Problem

This work-in-progress research paper describes the epistemic practices engineering students used to solve an open-ended problem. Open-ended problems are ill-defined and can be solved using multiple solution paths. They are the kinds of problems encountered in the workplace. As such, they pose a challenge for students to solve. Students must use reliable epistemic practices to successfully solve an open-ended problem. Epistemic practices include brainstorming ideas, checking the reliability of an information source, and making comparisons. To support students in tackling such problems, instructors must understand students' epistemic practices. We conducted secondary data analysis of seven interview transcripts by coding and categorizing codes using our definition of epistemic practices. The results showed twenty-one epistemic practices classified into six themes: research, teamwork, finding solutions, assumptions, guidance from the professor, and 'other epistemic practices.' Our findings communicate to instructors the epistemic practices to encourage and support in the classroom and help students apply them to open-ended problems. As we continue this work, we will investigate engineering students' epistemic practices in different problem-solving contexts.