Work in Progress: Perception of complex engineering problem among capstone design students

Abstract

Complex problem solving has been consistently listed by World Economic Forum as one of the top ten skills that employers look for in graduates in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. Washington Accord requires that engineering students come up with design solutions for complex engineering problems. Similarly, ABET emphasized that engineering students must be prepared for practice through a curriculum culminating in a major design experience. This study assessed the perception of complex engineering problems among capstone design students. Preliminary results show that while senior engineering students believe that they have experienced solving complex engineering problems in earlier courses, they do not fully understand what it meant and how to classify a problem as a complex engineering problem. The completion of this research is expected to benefit both students and teachers as it provides insights on how to improve the curriculum and practices in the implementation of complex engineering problems.