Presented By: Aerospace Engineering
Chairs Distinguished Lecture: Bridging the Gap Between Coursework & Ill-Defined, Sociotechnical Engineering Practice
Aaron Johnson
Assistant Professor
Core Faculty Member in the Engineering Education Research Program
University of Michigan
Abstract:
In sophomore and junior-level engineering science courses, students are traditionally asked to use provided mathematical models to solve well-defined textbook homework problems. While these problems are important for practicing mathematical problem-solving, they lack the complexity of ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering projects in the real world. In my current research I seek to bridge this gap between the engineering classroom and engineering workplace by understanding how students engage in the productive beginnings of professional practices and how instructors can support these productive beginnings.
This seminar will focus on one particular practice, engineering judgment, which is the use of mathematical models in design and analysis. I will present my work on the development of a new theoretical framework of the productive beginnings of engineering judgment. This design-based research has been conducted symbiotically with a new innovative type of assignment in which students model a real-world system by making and justifying their own assumptions. I will discuss the assignment scaffolding strategies that we have found to be successful in engaging students in these productive beginnings of engineering judgment. My talk will conclude by discussing future work focused on students’ engineering judgment during senior projects, internships, and experiential learning experiences.
Bio:
Aaron W. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department and a Core Faculty member of the Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan. He believes in a strong connection between engineering education research and practice, and his research leverages his experience teaching engineering science courses to bring more aspects of ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering practice into the classroom. Aaron holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from U-M, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to re-joining U-M, he was an instructor in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Aaron enjoys reading, collecting LEGO NASA sets, biking, camping, and playing disc golf.
Assistant Professor
Core Faculty Member in the Engineering Education Research Program
University of Michigan
Abstract:
In sophomore and junior-level engineering science courses, students are traditionally asked to use provided mathematical models to solve well-defined textbook homework problems. While these problems are important for practicing mathematical problem-solving, they lack the complexity of ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering projects in the real world. In my current research I seek to bridge this gap between the engineering classroom and engineering workplace by understanding how students engage in the productive beginnings of professional practices and how instructors can support these productive beginnings.
This seminar will focus on one particular practice, engineering judgment, which is the use of mathematical models in design and analysis. I will present my work on the development of a new theoretical framework of the productive beginnings of engineering judgment. This design-based research has been conducted symbiotically with a new innovative type of assignment in which students model a real-world system by making and justifying their own assumptions. I will discuss the assignment scaffolding strategies that we have found to be successful in engaging students in these productive beginnings of engineering judgment. My talk will conclude by discussing future work focused on students’ engineering judgment during senior projects, internships, and experiential learning experiences.
Bio:
Aaron W. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department and a Core Faculty member of the Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan. He believes in a strong connection between engineering education research and practice, and his research leverages his experience teaching engineering science courses to bring more aspects of ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering practice into the classroom. Aaron holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from U-M, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to re-joining U-M, he was an instructor in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Aaron enjoys reading, collecting LEGO NASA sets, biking, camping, and playing disc golf.
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