Engineering Design Processes: A Comparison of Students and Expert Practitioners

In this paper we report on an in‐depth study of engineering design processes. Specifically, we extend our previous research on engineering student design processes to compare the design behavior of students and expert engineers. Nineteen experts from a variety of engineering disciplines and industries each designed a playground in a lab setting, and gave verbal reports of their thoughts during the design task. Measures of their design processes and solution quality were compared to pre‐existing data from 26 freshmen and 24 seniors. The experts spent significantly more time on the task overall and in each stage of engineering design, including significantly more time problem scoping. The experts also gathered significantly more information covering more categories. Results support the argument that problem scoping and information gathering are major differences between advanced engineers and students, and important competencies for engineering students to develop. Timeline representations of the expert designers' processes illustrate characteristic distinctions we found and may help students gain insights into their own design processes.     

Measuring Engineering Design Self‐Efficacy

Background Self‐concept can influence how an individual learns, but is often overlooked when assessing student learning in engineering. Purpose (Hypothesis ) To validate an instrument designed to measure individuals' self‐concepts toward engineering design tasks, three research questions were investigated: (a) how well the items in the instrument represent the engineering design process in eliciting the task‐specific self‐concepts of self‐efficacy, motivation, outcome expectancy, and anxiety, (b) how well the instrument predicts differences in the self‐efficacy held by individuals with a range of engineering experiences, and (c) how well the responses to the instrument align with the relationships conceptualized in self‐efficacy theory. Design /Method A 36‐item online instrument was developed and administered to 202 respondents. Three types of validity evidence were obtained for (a) representativeness of multi‐step engineering design processes in eliciting self‐efficacy, (b) the instrument's ability to differentiate groups of individuals with different levels of engineering experience, and (c) relationships between self‐efficacy, motivation, outcome expectancy, and anxiety as predicted by self‐efficacy theory. Results Results indicate that the instrument can reliably identify individuals' engineering design self‐efficacy (α = 0.967), motivation (α = 0.955), outcome expectancy (α = 0.967), and anxiety (α = 0.940). One‐way ANOVA identified statistical differences in self‐efficacy between high, intermediate, and low experience groups at the ρ < 0.05 level. Self‐efficacy was also shown to be correlated to motivation (0.779), outcome expectancy (0.919), and anxiety (—0.593) at the ρ < 0.01 level. Conclusions The study showed that the instrument was capable of identifying individuals' self‐concepts specific to the engineering design tasks.     

面向现代工程中两种设计方法的工程制图教学改革

阐述了现代工程中并存的两种设计方法,即以二维为主、三维为辅的设计方法和数字化的三维设计方法。结合目前人才市场的需求,提出了面向两种设计方法的工程制图教学改革的思路,叙述了具体的改革方案。在二维教学的基础上,突出三维设计思想,形成了画法几何、计算机绘图、几何造型和机械制图有机结合的现代工程制图教学体系,进行了初步的教学实践,取得了良好的教学效果。     

The Development of Adaptive Expertise in Biomedical Engineering Ethics

This paper is an investigation of the How People Learn (HPL) Legacy Cycle's ability to expand adaptive expertise across the developmental span of high school and college. Participants included high school and college students. Pre‐test data indicated younger students (high school and first‐year college students) were less knowledgeable about the science of stem cells than older students (second‐, third‐, and fourth year college students), and all students were low in adaptiveness. Post‐test data showed that younger students achieved parity with the more advanced students in basic scientific knowledge. The younger students also became highly adaptive by the post‐test, but the older students did not advance beyond their pre‐curriculum levels. We hypothesize that the older students began the intervention with more preconceived notions about stem cells, and thus were less able to think and analyze flexibly within that framework.     

后仿生设计方法探析

由Peel休闲椅案例分析入手,探寻其理论依据,通过对比现有几种仿生设计概念,分析了Peel休闲椅的设计特点,进而提出了新的概念——后仿生设计。结合分析后仿生设计案例,并融合木材解剖学、木材纹理强化技术和重组装饰材料设计制造技术等研究成果,进一步归纳出后仿生设计的方法,包括仿机械加工形态法、仿物理处理特征法、移植综合处理特征法及仿珍贵材料切面法,以便为今后开展后仿生设计的研究和应用提供理论基础。     

基于工程化方法的软件界面艺术设计

针对目前软件界面在开发方法和开发过程上通常分别单一地使用工程法或艺术法2大独立系统,并致使开发结果均难以获得成果效能的最大化的现状,运用重点特征枚举法,通过对软件工程相关理论要点的解析和对界面艺术设计特点的分析,检视了2大方法体系综合运用的可能性,探讨了在软件界面艺术设计实践中工程化方法的应用途径,指出严谨和科学的设计程序是保证界面艺术设计达到预期设计目标的基本保证和有效途径。     

The Use of Discriminant Analysis to Investigate the Influence of Non‐Cognitive Factors on Engineering School Persistence

This study identified post‐enrollment attitudes and perceptions that influence students' decisions to remain in an engineering curriculum. Non‐cognitive factors including expectations and perception of the engineering profession, assessment of personal attributes, and subject‐matter confidence were investigated. Discriminant analysis functions were developed to distinguish among three mutually exclusive groups: those who remained in the engineering school, those who remained at the university in a different school, and those who left the university altogether. Self‐reported confidence in college‐level math/science ability and the belief that an engineering degree enhances career security at a respectable salary were found to be significant predictors of both short‐term and long‐term persistence in engineering.     

Women Engineering Students and Self‐Efficacy: A Multi‐Year,Multi‐Institution Study of Women Engineering Student Self‐Efficacy

As our nation's need for engineering professionals grows, educators and industry leaders are increasingly becoming concerned with how to attract women to this traditionally male career path. Self‐efficacy has been shown to be related to positive outcomes in studying and pursuing careers in non‐traditional fields. This paper describes the results of two years of engineering self‐efficacy data collected from women engineering students at five institutions across the U.S. This study adds to the growing body of self‐efficacy literature via its multi‐year, multi‐institution design and helps to clarify the impact of the engineering curriculum on self‐efficacy. Results indicate that while women students show positive progress on some self‐efficacy and related subscales, they show a significant decrease on feelings of inclusion from the first to second measurement period and further suggest a relationship between ethnicity and feelings of inclusion. Additionally, correlations show that self‐efficacy is related to women students' plans to persist in this predominantly male discipline.     

建筑工程并行设计研究

介绍了并行工程的定义和特点；针对并行工程对建筑产品开发过程的要求，构建了建筑工程并行设计实施的集成框架，包括并行设计集成的内容、集成的功能及以三域划分的总体结构；论述了建筑工程并行设计实施的特点；构建了基于共享数据库的各专业设计层次的关系。     

Considering Context: A Study of First‐Year Engineering Students

High‐quality engineering design requires an understanding of how the resulting engineered artifact interacts with society, the natural environment, and other aspects of context. This study examines how first‐year engineering undergraduates approached two engineering design tasks. We focused on how much students considered contextual factors during problem‐scoping, a critical part of the design process. As part of a larger, longitudinal study, we collected data from 160 students at four U.S. institutions. Students varied in their consideration of each design task's context, and women's responses were more likely to be context‐oriented than men's. Overall, context‐orientation was positively correlated between the two design tasks, despite differences in data collection and analysis. Having found that beginning engineering students, particularly women, are sensitive to important contextual factors, we suggest that efforts to broaden participation in engineering should consider legitimizing and fostering context‐oriented approaches to engineering earlier in the curriculum.     

基于系统工程原理的产品包装设计

根据系统工程的一般理论提出"运用系统工程原理进行包装设计"的观点,介绍包装系统设计的基本思想,并基于系统的观点研究包装系统的特性、包装系统的组成以及包装系统设计的特点和步骤,从而建立起包装系统设计的理论体系基础.     

Identifying Factors Influencing Engineering Student Graduation: A Longitudinal and Cross‐Institutional Study

Pre‐existing factors are quantitatively evaluated as to their impact on engineering student success. This study uses a database of all engineering students at nine institutions from 1987 through 2002 (a total of 87,167 engineering students) and focuses on graduation in any of the engineering disciplines. We report graduation rate as a function of years since matriculation, and determine the typical time‐to‐graduation. A multiple logistic regression model is fitted to each institution's data to explore the relationship between graduation and demographic and academic characteristics. A pooled model is fitted to six institutions where a complete data set was available. High school GPA, gender, ethnicity, quantitative SAT scores, verbal SAT scores, and citizenship had significant impact on graduation. While HSGPA, SATQ were significant for all models tested, the significance of other predictors varied among institutions. These studies add to the existing body of research about factors affecting the success of engineering students.     

基于色彩工学探究工程机械产品外观安全警示设计

运用色彩工学的原理,提出在工程机械产品外观设计中标准化、定量化进行色彩设计的依据。通过分析影响工程机械产品安全性的外部因素,以及当前色彩设计的现状,提出在进行产品外观色彩优化时要强化安全警示作用。从工程机械产品外观色彩结构、"人—机—环境"系统中色彩安全设计、暗视觉条件下加强色光安全设计等几方面强化安全设计理念。