Journal of Engineering Education Transformations

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A Study of Factors Influencing the Problem-Solving Skills of Engineering Students


Affiliations
1 School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka, India
2 Centre for Engineering Education Research, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka, India
     

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Problem-solving skill is one of the essential attributes of an engineering graduate. It refers to the ability of the person to analyse a given problem and offer the best solution within the constraints. Engineering curriculum has the mandate of equipping students with skills and competencies in problemsolving. Several factors influence the problemsolving skills in addition to the technical skills and competencies offered through curricular interventions. Psychological factors, which are habitual patterns of behaviour, thought and emotion, also influence problem-solving skills. This study focuses on inves tigating the influence of psychological factors like motivation, perception, stress, team working skills, learning styles, general self-efficacy on problem-solving skills of engineering students. This study focused on first-year students of undergraduate engineering program registered for a course titled Engineering Exploration. This course is a three-credit multidisciplinary course that effectively uses Activity-Based Learning (ABL), Design-Based Learning (DBL) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) pedagogical practices. The data collected for the study was through interviews and the use of well-structured questionnaires administered to first-year students enrolled for the course offered at the university. Results show that the psychological factors of students like motivation, perception, general selfefficacy and teamwork skills have a positive influence on problem-solving skills, while stress has a negative effect. However, the difference in learning styles does not influence problem-solving skills.

Keywords

Problem-Solving Skills, Project-Based Learning, Engineering Design Process, First-Year Engineering, Graduate Attributes.
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  • A Study of Factors Influencing the Problem-Solving Skills of Engineering Students

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Authors

Sita L. Bhadargade
School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka, India
Kaushik M.
Centre for Engineering Education Research, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka, India
Gopalkrishna Joshi
School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, KLE Technological University, Hubballi, Karnataka, India

Abstract


Problem-solving skill is one of the essential attributes of an engineering graduate. It refers to the ability of the person to analyse a given problem and offer the best solution within the constraints. Engineering curriculum has the mandate of equipping students with skills and competencies in problemsolving. Several factors influence the problemsolving skills in addition to the technical skills and competencies offered through curricular interventions. Psychological factors, which are habitual patterns of behaviour, thought and emotion, also influence problem-solving skills. This study focuses on inves tigating the influence of psychological factors like motivation, perception, stress, team working skills, learning styles, general self-efficacy on problem-solving skills of engineering students. This study focused on first-year students of undergraduate engineering program registered for a course titled Engineering Exploration. This course is a three-credit multidisciplinary course that effectively uses Activity-Based Learning (ABL), Design-Based Learning (DBL) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) pedagogical practices. The data collected for the study was through interviews and the use of well-structured questionnaires administered to first-year students enrolled for the course offered at the university. Results show that the psychological factors of students like motivation, perception, general selfefficacy and teamwork skills have a positive influence on problem-solving skills, while stress has a negative effect. However, the difference in learning styles does not influence problem-solving skills.

Keywords


Problem-Solving Skills, Project-Based Learning, Engineering Design Process, First-Year Engineering, Graduate Attributes.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.16920/jeet%2F2020%2Fv33i4%2F143655