Problem solving is an important activity for engineering practitioners and studying engineers. For students, this activity is used to learn fundamental engineering concepts that will later be used in engineering practice. Problems often require the interaction and use of multiple types of representations that convey important information to the problem solver. These representations take many forms such as graphs, figures, tables, and other visualizations. Prior engineering education research has focused on how students engage with multiple types of representations; however, little research has looked at why. The reasons why decisions are made during the problem-solving process are related to factors of problem-solving heuristics. Problem solving heuristics act as guides or rules that problem solvers use to navigate the solution process. To address this gap in the research we had 16 undergraduate engineering students solve 3 problems focused on headloss in pipes while their gaze patterns were monitored with eye tracking technology. The three problems included four contextual representations that were used by the students as approaches to solving the problem. Following the problem-solving interview, we conducted semi-structured retrospective interviews supplemented with probing questions from our monitoring of the problem-solving interview. Narrative from the retrospective interviews led to a holistic view of the problem-solving process of engineering students as they described why they chose one representation over another. These methods led to the observation of five problem solving factors that describe the reasons and justifications for using a particular representation. These factors describe important behaviors of the engineering students and problem solvers that can be used to better understand how and why problem-solving decisions are made.
Sean Gestson graduated from the University of Portland (UP) in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering with a research emphasis in engineering education from Oregon State University (OSU). During his time at OSU, Sean taught multiple undergraduate engineering courses including, geotechnical engineering, highway design, surveying, and senior capstone design. His engineering education research aims to understand more about the gap in student preparedness for the engineering workplace. He has worked closely with engineering practitioners, faculty, and students to understand more about their problem-solving behavior, beliefs around engineering knowledge, and learning more about what it means to be an engineer. Sean enjoys being active outdoors with his family and friends while climbing, mountain biking, and camping.
Shane Brown is an associate professor and Associate School Head in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University. His research interests include conceptual change and situated cognition. He received the NSF CAREER award in
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Portland
Research interests include: curriculum and faculty development
Dr. Masoud Ghodrat Abadi is an assistant professor of transportation engineering in Department of Civil Engineering at California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Abadi’s research interests lie in the areas of active transportation, traffic control, traffic safety, and engineering education. He teaches graduate and undergraduate classes covering topics such as: Traffic Engineering, Engineering Statistics, and Transportation Planning. Dr. Abadi serves as a member of TRB Standing Committee on Transportation Education and Training (ABG20) and ITE Transportation Education Council.
Dr. David Hurwitz is a Professor of Transportation Engineering, Director of the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Research, and Director of the OSU Driving and Bicycling Simulator Laboratory in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at Oregon State University. Dr. Hurwitz conducts research in the broad areas of transportation operations and safety with particular focus on transportation human factors, bicycles and pedestrians, commercial motor vehicles, and connected and automated vehicles.
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