T/E design based learning: assessing student critical thinking and problem solving abilities

The research presented is of an investigation into the critical thinking (CT) and problem solving (PS) abilities used by high school technology and engineering (T/E) students when attempting to achieve a viable solution for an authentic engineering design-no-make challenge presented outside the context of the classroom in which their STEM content was first learned. Five key abilities were identified and assessed as indicators of a student’s ability to problem solving within the context of authentic engineering design. Findings from data analyses indicates T/E students who acquire STEM content through T/E design base learning demonstrate significantly better CT and PS abilities in designing an engineering solution compared with a hypothesized mean for students receiving their STEM content via traditional classroom instruction. Furthermore, student abilities associated with selecting and utilizing relevant science and math content and practices, and communicating logical reasoning in their design solution were found to be critical to successful problem solving.