QEP-Real World Problem Solving

Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice 2016, 142(3).
A growing consensus in the literature on how to improve the quality of learning suggests that adaptions to problem-based learning (PBL) methods could firstly improve learning experiences, problem solving, skill acquisition and a reasonable level of skill transfer from a student perspective, and secondly develop better professional competence and preparation in these needed highway capacity analysis skills. This paper describes the educational basis of problem-oriented and project-based learning (POPBL) approaches that have been developed as an integral part of a four-year undergraduate engineering degree program at the University of Delaware and incorporated into the transportation curriculum, using real world cases to teach students how to think like expert practitioners. A seven-phase POPBL conceptual framework and the experiences of employing POPBL are presented to demonstrate how it operates in transportation engineering education.
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Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice 2011, 137(4): 215-222.
For engineering educators who incorporate real-world problems into their teaching, it is essential to understand real-world problem solving and the nature of problems for better design of the instruction. Prior research provided evidence that real-world problems involve many stakeholders, are complex, and have multiple solutions and solution paths. The purpose of this paper is to provide additional insights particularly into the structure/class of workplace problems and associated models of expertise. This paper describes the findings of a study that employed a two-step process: (1) a single-case study of a steel engineer generating a model of compound problem solving and (2) a multi-case comparison of 90 problem-solving narratives of other engineers to the single case. The study is located in a U.S. context. Results indicate that real-world problems are intertwined problems (compound problems) and that transitions from one problem type to another within a compound problem are a unique class of problems themselves. These transition problems have properties that are not represented in other problem types and provide insights into expertise and expertise development in problem solving.
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Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice 2013, 139(2): 123-133.
The purpose of this study was to determine how a real-world, sustainability-focused engineering capstone course affected students’ critical thinking skills, student knowledge of sustainability, and student and faculty workloads. The research also investigated the effectiveness of a classwide jigsaw team approach. A combination of qualitative and quantitative assessment tools, including surveys, journals, interviews, and timecards, was employed to investigate the research questions. Results revealed that a real-world project with a focus on sustainability positively impacted students’ critical thinking skills and led to increased knowledge of sustainability, but it also correlated with a high workload for students and faculty. Additionally, the jigsaw organization structure proved successful and yielded a positive team-building experience for the students. These results suggest open-ended problems with real project constraints can yield a uniquely beneficial learning experience without sacrificing the quality of student design or project deliverables.
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Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice 2014, 140(2).
Structural engineers produce real things and yet structural engineering education is dominated by the theoretical. Ensuring that practical, real-world engineering skills are part of the modern university degree program is a constant challenge. Teaching is under continual pressure from student numbers, limited resources, demands for clear learning outcomes and assessment, an expanding curriculum, and the skill set of school leavers. If left unchecked, the creative and practical rapidly becomes formal and prescribed. Laboratory sessions, for example, become focused on displaying specific concepts in structural mechanics, rather than on practical experience of real-world engineering.
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Journal of Engineering Education 2000, 89(1): 79-87.
The School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science (CEES) at the University of Oklahoma (OU) has been developing a curriculum reform project entitled Sooner City since Spring 1997; it was implemented in Fall 1998. For the project, incoming freshman are given a plat of land that is turned into a blueprint for critical infrastructure segments of the city. Design tasks include all facets of the traditional civil engineering program, ranging from sewer and water infrastructure to steel buildings. The project is unique in that it threads a common, four-year design theme throughout the curriculum, yet does so in a flexible, cost-effective manner; it unifies the curriculum and allows material learned in early courses to carry forward; and it provides a natural forum for incorporating other pedagogical reform initiatives, such as just-in-time learning, collaborative learning, and active learning with in-class use of laptops. A primary goal is to produce graduates who consistently think at a higher level, and who are thus capable of handling open-ended design projects that require creativity, self-analysis, and awareness of economic, social, and political issues. The extent to which the Sooner City project meets this goal is being assessed through formative and summative evaluations by an external reviewer.
This project was also funded by the National Science Foundation Grant https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9872505