Incorporating design thinking into the first-year engineering curriculum

Abstract

The goal of the common first-year engineering program at our university is to prepare students to succeed in upper level engineering curricula. This is achieved through the process of solving open-ended multidisciplinary engineering problems in an active, engaging, learning environment, while gaining exposure to different engineering majors and career options. The focus is the development of problem-solving, computational, and communication skills. Through active, collaborative teamwork, students apply engineering methods to "real world" problems. While there are a number of Innovation and Entrepreneurial (I&E) experiences available to our first-year engineering students, they are all extra-curricular in nature. By directly introducing students to key I&E tools and methodologies in the first-year engineering courses, we are fostering and encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset, allowing and better preparing students to take advantage of the available I&E opportunities and potentially increasing the pipeline of student inventors and innovators. Historically, in this the first-year engineering courses, students work in teams to develop solutions to prescribed problems. In a pilot initiative for the Fall 2017 sections of ENG1102: Engineering Modeling and Design, our goal was to allow students the opportunity to self-identify problems they would like to address in an effort to expose them to concepts in innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial mindset. For this pilot study, our approach was to integrate a series of instructional modules in Design-Thinking methodologies into the curriculum for ENG1102 to help students: 1) employ empathy to identify problems of interest; 2) explore ideation techniques to generate innovative solutions, and 3) to practice low-resolution prototyping as a means to test their solutions, gather feedback and iterate on their designs. In this paper, we will share the results of our pilot initiative including assessment efforts to measure change in students' curiosity & exploration, attitudes toward creativity, creative self-efficacy and creative identity, as well as feedback from the student participants.