Abstract Infusing creative thinking competence through the design process of
authentic projects requires not only changing the teaching methods and learning
environment, but also adopting new assessment methods, such as portfolio assess-
ment. The participants in this study were 128 high school pupils who have studied
MECHATRONICS from 10th to 12th grades (16–18 years old). By the end of 12th
grade, the pupils had created 57 authentic projects. The intervention program had
two parts: first, the pupils documented their project according to a creative design
process that had been introduced to them. Second, the projects were assessed
according to a creative thinking scale. This scale was designed to assist pupils in
documenting the design process. It could be used as a guideline for teachers and
pupils during the course of the project. The research examined pupils’ performance
during project-based learning. The research tools included: observations of class
activities, portfolio assessment, and external matriculation assessment. The findings
show first that pupils learned to document their design process. Second, pupils’
projects demonstrated various levels of creative thinking skill. Evidences for high-
level documentation of the projects were found in pupils’ portfolios. On the other
hand, there is much to be learned about documenting teamwork and pupils’
reflection. This research could assist researchers and teachers who are interested in
assessing engineering education outcomes.
Keywords Engineering education Æ Design process Æ Project-based learning Æ
Creative thinking Æ Learning environment Æ Portfolio assessment
Introduction
This study explores the use of design-based learning (DBL) to support the docu-
mentation of an authentic project pupils are creating as a graduation project at high
school level.
Y. Doppelt (&)
University of Pittsburg, 815 LRDC, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
e-mail: yaron@pitt.edu
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Int J Technol Des Educ (2009) 19:55–65
DOI 10.1007/s10798-006-9008-y
ORI GI N A L P A PE R
Assessing creative thinking in design-based learning
Yaron Doppelt
Received: 24 November 2004 / Accepted: 5 July 2006 / Published online: 5 January 2007

Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006

Engineering education in Israel
Engineering education in Israel is part of the comprehensive high school curriculum.
Engineering education in the high school level has a unique structure that combines
practical and theoretical knowledge, synthesizes vertical and lateral thinking, and
creates a rich and flexible learning environment (LE). At the end of junior high
school, pupils have to choose one or more areas as a major, such as Sciences,
Humanities or Engineering. The Engineering curriculum for the high school in Israel
contains several major subjects that are related to physics and mathematics, such as
civil engineering, computers and electronics, mechanics and control systems.
MECHATRONICS is a new sub-major in the mechanics and control subject. Pupils
study MECHATRONICS for 3 years, 10th– 12th grades. They learn Physics, System
Control, Mechanics and Programming for 5 h per week (h/w) altogether 20 h/w. This
syllabus is about half of their weekly schedule. The culmination of this curriculum is
a graduation project.
The MECHATRONICS curriculum has been implemented in nine schools since
2000/2001. In 2003, there were 15 schools that offered this major to their pupils. In
2005, 30 schools offered MECHATRONICS. This curriculum recommends pupils to
create a graduation project. If a pupil chooses to work on a graduation project it will
replace one external matriculation examination out of the three examinations that
are required in the MECHATRONICS major. The MECHATRONICS curriculum
is an integration of several scientific and engineering topics. Therefore, the gradu-
ation project deals with real-life situations. The pupils choose to explore, design,
construct, and create a program which controls the system. Educators may create
rich learning environments in which pupils have freedom to decide, to invent and/or
to choose the problem or the nature of their project. The assessment processes of
learning outcomes in a rich learning environment have an important impact on the
learning process (Doppelt & Barak, 2002). In addition pupils’ perspectives on the
most influential characteristics of the learning environment are important for
teaching and learning and for the designing of learning environments (Doppelt,
2004). This study suggests an infusing of creative thinking into a design process
during project-based learning (PBL).
Infusing creative thinking into the design process
Infusing the teaching of thinking skills into a specific disciplinary course may provide
a rich LE that will contribute not only to the development of thinking skills but also
to a better understanding of the discipline under study (Ennis, 1989; Glaser, 1993;
Zohar & Tamir, 1993). Vertical thinking and lateral thinking complement each other
and both are the essential elements of creative thinking (De Bono, 1986). Infusing
pupils’ design process with instruction in creative thinking creates opportunities to
assess creative thinking in PBL. Design-based learning (DBL) can be used creatively
using the system approach (Doppelt, 2005; Doppelt, Mehalik, & Schunn, 2005).
Active learning with objects can serve as an instrument to develop thinking and
can encourage teachers to design modern LE (Collings, 1985; Dewey, 1977). This
active experience in a science–technology LE enables a continuous passage between
motorized thinking, concrete thinking and formal thinking activities (Waks, 1995).
Pupils, who are given the opportunity to choose their own authentic project, think
about needs, decide about their priorities; they design, build, and assess their
56 Y. Doppelt
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