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    Investigating the innovation capabilities of undergraduate engineering students

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    WILLIAMS-THESIS-2013.pdf (2.964Mb)
    Date
    2013-08
    Author
    Williams, Paul T., active 2013
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    Abstract
    This thesis describes a method for measuring the innovation capabilities of mechanical engineering students and presents the results of a yearlong experiment. A review of relevant literature shows that it is unclear whether the innovation capabilities of engineering students increase or decrease over time. Experiments were conducted at two universities in which students were asked to redesign an everyday electromechanical product in a sketch-based concept generation activity. Student participants were also asked to complete a self-efficacy survey. Nearly one thousand concepts were generated from a combination of freshmen and seniors. The concepts were evaluated for originality, technical feasibility, and innovation characteristics by multiple raters. At both schools, the findings suggest that the senior-level engineering students are more creative than their freshman-level counterparts without sacrificing technical feasibility. Additionally, the seniors rated higher for originality at the end of the semester than they scored prior to taking their senior design class. These results suggest that the mechanical engineering curricula, and especially the senior-level Engineering Design courses, are having a positive effect on student creativity.
    Department
    Mechanical Engineering
    Description
    text
    Subject
    Engineering education
    Product design
    Engineering design
    Innovation
    Concept generation
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/2152/22275
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    • facebook
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    • CONTACT US
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    • JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    • UT Austin Home
    • Emergency Information
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    • Web Accessibility Policy
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    • Adobe Reader
    Subscribe to our NewsletterGive to the Libraries

    © The University of Texas at Austin