Learning Through Entrepreneurially Oriented Case-Based Instruction

作者：Garcia Juan^*; Sinfield Joe; Yadav Aman; Adams Robin

来源：International Journal of Engineering Education, 2012, 28(2): 448-457.

• case-based reasoning
• engineering education
• problem-solving
• ill-structured problems
• engineering entrepreneurship

As an increasing number and proportion of engineers engage in endeavors that involve technical, socio-economic, and cultural complexity, there is likely an increased need for broader skill sets than those honed in typical engineering coursework. In particular, much of engineering education is focused on developing problem-solving skills in situations for which there is an accepted problem-solving paradigm. However, when novel problems arise and a prevailing paradigm ceases to work properly, these problem-solving skills are likely to be ineffective, resulting in inconclusive or flawed results. Future engineers must therefore learn to identify when the prevailing paradigm is flawed and successfully manage such situations in order to solve problems for which no readily available solution exists. To help engineering students develop such skills, educators should likely provide educational experiences that motivate students at both a cognitive and metacognitive level and allow students to recognize potentially flawed paradigms so they can tackle ambiguous and ill-structured problems. In many ways, the skills required for this type of problem-solving parallel the attributes of another class of professionals entrepreneurs, as entrepreneurs routinely seek to break with accepted norms and pioneer new approaches to problems they observe in their environment. With this analogy in mind, this paper presents results from the implementation of an entrepreneurially oriented case study as a means to enhance engineering student attitudes and perspectives on problem-solving and learning.

• 出版日期2012