(294b) Beyond Gut Feeling: Teaching "Engineering Intuition" in the Technology Age

Technology is an essential component of modern engineering problem-solving. In both industry and academia, computer programs allow us to solve more complicated problems in a fraction of the time it would take to solve manually. Modeling software allows us to simulate entire plants before physically building a single unit.

With the rise of software as a tool in engineering problem-solving, comes the need to teach our students the difference between â??making the machine work for youâ?? and â??working for the machine.â?? Often, the convenience of software solutions manifests in complacencyâ??eager students accepting solutions the software provides without question. The ability to recognize whether a softwareâ??s solution (or assumptions used) is reasonable or ridiculousâ??engineering intuitionâ??has become an important skill to teach.

To better understand what factors may contribute to a studentsâ?? engineering intuition, we gave students open-ended simulation problems that were always solvable by the software, but the scenario was not always physically realistic. Students were pressed to interpret the solution and comment on the scenario in the problemâ??for example, would they recommend the distillation column the software designed, and why? We then considered potential correlations between studentsâ?? ability to assess a simulation-based problemâ??s practicality and a number of factors: student internship experience, program of study, ideal job, GPA, and learning styles.

This multi-disciplinary study is ongoing at two U.S. non-PhD-granting institutions. Required junior-level courses (chemical engineering at one institution, aeronautical at the other) with a heavy simulation component are being evaluated at both institutions. Preliminary results suggest correlations may exist between practical experience and ability to assess simulation problems. The one correlation found at both institutions suggests that high-achievers (characterized from GPA) are the most likely to take extra steps (such as perform additional calculations or look up real-world scenarios) when required to thoroughly assess a solution.

Continuing work will shed more light on what factors are most involved in student ability to assess simulations, and allow us to refine our instruction of engineering intuition through the use of computer simulations in the classroom.