One might think that as students progress through an undergraduate engineering curriculum, their understanding of a system’s inputs and outputs, component structure, and functional requirements would become more complete. This paper investigates the differences in sophomore and senior engineering students’ mental models. Students who took part in this study were enrolled in either a sophomore-level engineering design course or a senior-level systems analysis course. This multi-part study involved an in-class activity to elicit the students’ mental models of common household products and semi-structured interviews with students. Analysis of the completed in-class activity indicated no statistically significant difference between the sophomores’ and seniors’ mental model scores, so semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain clarity on the lack of difference. An affinity sort of the data revealed that some students may have relied on their understanding of functional modeling to complete the in-class activity, while others may have focused on component-based knowledge of the household products. Results of this study will be used to further improve the mental model instruments and the instrument deployment procedure.
Francis Fish is a current Ph.D. student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned his Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering and MBA at the University of Delaware, in 2016 and 2017, where he conducted research for DARPA and ARL funded projects as wel
Alexander Murphy is a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student at the Georgia Institute of Technology conducting research on design theory and engineering education. He received an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in creative writing from the University of South Florida. Alexander is excited to have received an NSF GRFP Fellowship for research in STEM Education and Learning Science. His research has focused on functional modeling and mental models in order to understand how engineering students develop systems thinking skills. He is also a musician and teaches marching percussion (specifically the marimba and vibraphone) to high school students. After completing his graduate degree, he wants to become academic faculty and start a business as a design consultant.
Dr. Melissa Aleman (Ph.D. University of Iowa) is Professor of Communication Studies at James Madison University and has published research using qualitative interviewing, ethnographic and rhetorical methods to examine communication in diverse contexts. Sh
http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-9598-633X
Florida Polytechnic University
[biography]
Matt Bohm is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Florida Polytechnic University (Florida Poly). He joined the University in 2016 after spending 6-years as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Louisville (U
Dr. Robert Nagel is a Professor and Director of the Department of Engineering at Carthage College. Dr. Nagel, a mechanical engineer by training, performs research on engineering student learning and engagement with a focus on interventions, pedagogies, and design methodologies. He seeks to gain applicable knowledge for increasing student engagement and reducing barriers in engineering, design, and making.
Dr. Julie S. Linsey is a Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technological. Her research focus is on design methods, theory, and engineering education with a particular focus on innovation and conceptual design.
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