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Problem Scoping in Design:Some Research ResultsDr. Cynthia J. Atman, Dr. Ken Yasuhara, Dr. Deborah KilgoreCenter for Engineering Learning and Teaching

College of Engineering, University of Washington

Acknowledgements: This work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation RED-9358516, DGE-9714459, EEC-9872498, REC-012554, ESI-0227558, SBE-0354453, the Boeing Company.

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Complete the following task

Over the summer, the Midwest experienced massive flooding of the Mississippi River. What factors would you take into account in designing a retaining wall system for the Mississippi?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 …….

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Draw a line under the last factor you listed and work with a team to continue the listOver the summer, the Midwest experienced massive flooding of the Mississippi River.

What factors would you take into account in designing a retaining wall system for the Mississippi?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 __________________________________________ 8 9 ……..

Switch papers and code responses as “broad” or “close” context

natural

wallwater

bank

surroundings

social

logisticaltechnical

broad context

close context

...

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Example close/broad contextual factors Broad context factors: social, natural,

riverbank, surroundings, etc. “aesthetic appeal – is it going to draw local

complaint?” “the surrounding habitat – make sure little or no

damage is done to the environment” “would wall impact use of the river by industry?”

Close context factors: technical, wall, logistical, water, etc. “cost of materials” “check the budget available for the operation” “how to contain the river water that has flooded out”

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What observations do you have? About the task About the types of factors listed

By you By others

About doing the task as an individual or as a group

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Some Research Results

natural

wallwater

bank

surroundings

social

logisticaltechnical

broad context

close context

...

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Academic Pathways Study (APS)Sheppard (Lead), Atman, Fleming, Miller, Smith, Stevens, Streveler

Large-scale, multi-method study of undergraduate engineering students

Three cohorts of students from very different institutions Longitudinal cohort Broader core sample Broader national sample

One cohort of early career engineers Research on the engineering learning

experience from the student perspective

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Longitudinal cohort: Research methods Surveys Structured interviews Ethnographic interviews and observations Engineering design tasks Supplementary data

Academic transcripts Exit interviews

Longitudinal cohort: Sample

40 students from each of four institutions Institutions

Technical Public Institution Large Public University Urban Private University Suburban Private University

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Midwest floods design task

• 10-minute, paper-and-pencil design task

“Over the summer the Midwest experienced massive flooding of the Mississippi River. What factors would you take into account in designing a retaining wall system for the Mississippi?”

• Years 1 and 3

natural

wallwater

bank

surroundings

social

logisticaltechnical

broad context

close contex

t

...

12

More factors in Year 3

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Year 3

Year 1

average number of factors

N = 69 (longitudinal sample)p < 0.001 (total factors)

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More close context in Year 3

…but no significant increase in

consideration of broad context

…but no significant increase in

consideration of broad context

close

broad

broad

close

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Year 3

Year 1

average number of factors

N = 69 (longitudinal sample)p < 0.001 (total factors and close context factors)

Increase in close context

segments…

Increase in close context

segments…

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Total factors, by gender

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

men

women

N = 29 women + 40 men (longitudinal sample)p < 0.05 (total factors, both years)

Year 1

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

men

women

average number of factors

Year 3Men respond with fewer factors in

both years

Men respond with fewer factors in

both years

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Close/broad context, by gender

close

broad

broad

close

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

men

women

N = 29 women + 40 men (longitudinal sample)p < 0.05 (total factors and broad context factors, both years)

Year 1

close

broad

broad

close

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

men

women

average number of factors

Year 3Men cite

fewer broad context

factors in both years

Men cite fewer broad

context factors in

both years

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“Problem Scoping” summary More factors listed in Year 3 than Year 1 Increase in consideration of close context

…but not broad context On average, women consider broad context

more than men Doing Design is complex

Skills change over time People bring different perspectives to design

experiences Design thinking is affected by individual/group

processes

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Thinking broadly about HCDE This task described broad problem scoping in

design How might this relate to portfolio design?

How broadly are you defining HCDE? Could you be broader in the types of artifacts

you are considering? Can you think about some potential

annotations more broadly?