Engineering by design : a methodology for designing creative engineering activities

321 Pages·1996·6 MB·English

by  Ohland, Matthew William

ENGINEERINGBYDESIGN:
AMETHODOLOGYFORDESIGNING
CREATIVEENGINEERINGACTIVITIES
By
MATTHEWWILLIAMOHLAND
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTS FORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
1996
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAUBRARES
Copyright 1996
by
MatthewWilliamOhland
Thisdissertation, allthatIhave, andall that Iam
arededicatedtomywife, Emily.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I amforeverindebttoDr. Hoitforstickinghisneck
out forme; thisdissertationisfarfromconventional.
ThisCivilEngineeringdepartmentandits chair, Dr. Paul
Thompson, arealsorecognizedforbeingreceptivetothe
inroads ofeducational reform. Myresearchwasalsohelped
significantlybytheSUCCEEDcoalitionandtheNational
ScienceFoundationandtheireffortstochangetheculture
ofengineeringeducation. Of thoseinSUCCEED, Dr. Rich
FelderofNCSUandDr. TimAndersonhavehadaspecial role
formeasmentors, asdidDr. JonathanEarleof the
UniversityofFlorida, Dr. DonSteinerofRensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, andDr. FredOrthliebofSwarthmore
College.
Themembersofmycommitteethemselveswereselected
becausetheyhaveincommonmyadmirationfortheir
expertiseaseducators. Eachofmycommitteemembers
deservespecialmentionfortheirmostprominent
contributionstothiswork; Dr. Hoit forlearningright
alongwithmehowtoconducteducational research, Dr.
Kantowskiforofferingassistanceinthatjourney, but
lettinguslearnforourselves, Dr. Ellifrittforhis
collaborationindesigningthetributaryarealaboratory,
Dr. Glagolafortreatingmeasapeerandservingasa
soundingboard, andDr. Hays formakingsure I cametothe
UniversityofFloridainthefirstplace.
Indevelopingandconductingthe TrussBridge
Laboratory, Ihavehadagreatdealofassistancefrommany
sources. Dr. Hoitsharedinitsdesign. Iamgrateful to
ReneeAlter, LincolnSmithandBennettRuedas fortheir
assistanceinpreparingtrusskits; KenSimondeserves
specialmentionforhisregularassistanceinrecovering
undamagedpopsiclesticks. Dr. Hoit, Renee, Line, andTodd
Sessionshaveallplayedapart inconductingthe
laboratory, butpreparationofthelaboratoryspaceitself
hasbeentrustedtoDannyRichardson, HubertMartin, and
Bill Studstill. Ofthose, Dannyassistseverytimethe
Introduction toEngineeringclassisheld, andearns special
recognitionasproofthatdoerscanalsobeteachers.
TheSECMEinstituteaffordedanumberofbenefits to
thisresearch, andtheSECMEadminstrationandmaster
.
teachersaredulyrecognized. Muchofmyfieldworkhas
beenconductedwithSECMEteachers. GoldstarsgotoDot
Turnerforhelpingmedevelopmyabilitytoteachelementary
studentsandforherverycaringapproachinall shedoes.
Dr. Hoitgraciouslyassumedresponsibilityforourpartof
theinstitute, tohelpmeinmyresearch. Fortunately,
NnekaJackman, attheUniversityforsummer1995, helpedme
holdupmyendofthebargain.
TheHOISTsummerinstitutementionedhereinwasalso
heldsummer1995. Manyofthearrangementsweremadeby
Nneka, whojumpedinwithbothfeet. Shewasjoinedby
AngelaKahoeandBennettRuedasas counselorsandevent
coordinators
ElizabethSyfrettwasessential intheprocessingand
analysisofdatatostudytheIntroduction toEngineering
courseandthetwosummerinstitutes. Sheaccomplisheda
greatdealofworktomeettoughdeadlines.
ClydeHolmanhasalwaysdonehisbesttomeetmyneeds
eachtime Iexceededtheabilitiesofthecomputeronmy
desk. Hisconcernformysuccesswillalwaysbe
appreciated.
ThetimethatDr. CynthiaHollandofNewberryHigh
School, Newberry, Florida, tookoutofherbusyscheduleto
assistwiththepreparationofahighschool statistics
lessonisgreatlyappreciated. Workingwithherwasnot
onlyeducational, butagreatdealoffun.
I cannot fail torecognizemyfamilyandfriends, not
onlyfortheirmoral supportthroughoutmyeducation, but
alsofortheirspecialunderstandingof thelevelof
commitmentnecessarytocompletethisdissertation. While
out-of-statefriendsandrelativeshavescarcelyheardfrom
meinthelast fewmonths, mywifeandmother-in-lawhave
assumedthebulkofmyhouseholdresponsibilities (including
caringformytwo-year-olddaughter, Charlotte) duringthat
sameperiod. Thisdissertationwasprimarilycompletedona
hand-me-downcomputerfrommygenerous friendCharles
Powell. WhileIcouldscarcehaveaffordedthat computer, I
likelywouldnothavefinishedinatimelyfashionwithout
it. Mysister, KarenOhland, alsoreceives special
recognitionforherassistanceinprocessingthedatafrom
thetributaryarealaboratory.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv
LISTOFTABLES xiv
ABSTRACT xvi
CHAPTERS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
TheReformofEngineeringEducation 1
PPrreovpioonuesntsRefoformtheMovCeumrernetnstReformMovement ... 21
ContextoftheCurrentReform 5
WTCehoeankcnederesnmsaenosdfsainofshthoierntdfusatslutldreynotfpeinpgeilnieneers....... 1459
SummaryofReformObjectives 18
DesignActivitiesasaMethodofMeetingReform
Objectives 19
TraditionalLaboratoryExercises 19
CapstoneDesignCourses 20
DesignforFreshmenandSophomores 21
DesignintheK-12 Pipeline 22
Studentintervention 22
Facultyintervention 25
Integrationintostatecurricula 27
TypicalDesignProjectObjectives 27
DissertationStructure 29
CREATIVEPROBLEMSOLVING 31
Introduction 31
TheStagesofProblemSolving 32
ProblemDefinition 33
IdeaGeneration 38
TheBarrierstoCreativeThinking 39
Falseassumptions 40
TLhoeorkeingisatonlaypronoeblermighitnainssowleartion .... 4421
Followingtherules 42
Negativethinking 43
Fearoffailure 43
Discomfortwithambiguity 44
TheUseofGroups inIdeaGeneration 45
BarrieErvsaluSapteicoifnicapptoreGhreonuspionIdeaGeneration . . 4478
Social loafing 48
Productionblocking 49
OTevcehrncioqmuiensgtofheIBdaearriGeernserattoioCnreativeThinking . 550
Verbalbrainstorming 51
Brainwriting 54
Electronicbrainstorming 55
Force-fitting 56
Morphologicalanalysis 56
IdeaEvaluationandSelection 57
SolutionImplementation 59
SummaryofApproachChosenforMethodology 61
LEARNINGANDTEACHING 63
Development 65
CognitiveDevelopment 66
Thepreoperational stage 66
Theconcreteoperational 69
Theformaloperational stage 71
CommentsonPiaget'stheory 72
PersonalandSocialDevelopment 73
Trustvs. mistrust 75
AIuntiotnioamtyivevsv.s.dougbutilt 7756
Industryvs. inferiority 77
Identityvs. roleconfusion 78
MoralDevelopment 79
Preconventional level 82
Conventional level 83
OveralPlostEfcfoencvtentoifonDaelvelloepvmelentalStages .... 8845
Learning 85
BehavioralLearningTheory 86
Conditioning 87
Consequences 88
Extinction 92
Discrimination 92
Generalization 93
Modeling 93
Self-regulation 94
Otherapplicationsofbehavioral learning
theory 94
CognitiveLearningTheory 95
Interference 96
Primacyandrecency 98
Mnemonics 98
Practice 99
Organization 100
Commonelementsofcognitiveprinciples 101
Pedagogy 102
EducationalAims 103
Goals 103
GIennsetrraulctieodnuaclatioobnjaelctipvreosgramobjectives . 110044
Anexampleusingallthreelevelsof
educationalaims 105
Bloom'KsnowTlaexdogneomyofEducationalObjectives . 110067
Comprehension 108
Application 108
Analysis 109
Synthesis 109
Evaluation 110
TaxonomyofAffectiveObjectives Ill
Effective Instruction 112
Aptitude 113
Between-ClassGrouping 114