A comparison of freshman and senior engineering design processes
Design Studies, 20 (2):
131-152+ (1999)Abstract
In this paper we report the results of an in-depth study of engineering student approaches to an open-ended design problem. To do this, verbal protocols were collected from 26 freshman (first year) and 24 senior (fourth year) engineering students as they designed a playground for a fictitious neighborhood. We analysed these protocols to document and compare the student design processes. The results show that the seniors produced higher quality designs. In addition, compared to the freshmen, the seniors gathered more information, considered more alternative solutions, transitioned more frequently between design steps and progressed further into the final steps of the design process.