Engineering Commons^™

Expert Vs. Novice: Problem Decomposition/Recomposition In Engineering Design, Ting Song

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to investigate the design behavior. A commonly used design strategy called “problem decomposition and recomposition” was the focus of the study. Dyads of engineering experts, dyads of engineering seniors, and dyads of engineering freshmen completed an engineering design challenge within an hour. The entire design process was video and audio recorded. After the design session, participants participated in a group interview.

The conversation and behavior from the design were transcribed, segmented, and coded. Two coding systems including the FBS ontology and “levels of the problem” were used in this study. A series of statistical …