Based on the results of numerous studies, researchers have found that metacognition, or the ability to "think about thinking," plays a significant role in students' design education. Educators are increasingly focused on metacognition in design education, not only with the subject matter, but also with the development of metacognitive skills for self-regulated and lifelong learning. Since the early 2000s, there have been an increasing number of studies on the role of metacognition in education. However, there is a lack of research on the nature of metacognitive processing in design education and how metacognitive strategies develop in design students. This study focuses on the process of learning, in terms of design thinking, and specifically on the role of metacognitive learning. The purpose of the inquiry is to extend metacognitive theory to design learning and uncover the factors and influences of metacognitive thinking and learning during a student's first year in the Design Lab. In this study, the researcher probed the students' metacognitive ability in different design learning-tasks. The research frames metacognitive aspects of students' learning based on evidence obtained from students while they were working in the Design Lab. The evidence is as follows: verbal description (oral or written), experiential (videos or notes about people in action) and artifactual objects of the learning process (sketches and models). The field studies utilized a constructivist paradigm to examine the various forms of thinking in action, and the actions that occur during a learning-task. Verbal protocol analysis of video recordings of students engaged in selected learning design tasks was used to uncover the metacognitive thinking that develops during the execution of the learning-task. The researcher used a thematic data analysis process to develop an understanding of the data and identify common themes that arose from the investigation. Themes were generated through the interpretation of the data in light of the literature reviewed, the research questions, and the researcher's personal knowledge and intuition. The cyclical process of metacognitive thinking for design students was examined based on three main categories: Reflective process knowledge, reflective process monitoring, and reflective process control. The research reveals that metacognitive thinking plays an important role in design idea generation and development, and is an important part of the creative process in design. As one would expect, based on metacognitive theory, the differences between high-performing and low-performing students are well explained. High-performing students focused more on metacognitive thinking, especially monitoring their design process, while low-performance students were more concerned with cognition, or doing the task. The findings have added new knowledge to the fields of metacognition and self-regulated learning by identifying the conscious thinking process that occurs when students engage in design learning in the first year Design Lab. This knowledge will be helpful to design educators in formulating design learning-tasks for students in their labs in tandem with fully utilizing the environment of their school. / Ph. D.

Previous studies suggest that 3D visualization is fundamental to design spatial cognition, and the capability to work with 3D mental or physical models and taking perspective views from a set of 2D drawings are essential parts of design education, although there is no definitive evidence that can directly support these beliefs. This dissertation focuses on the issues of how spatial capabilities correlate with design performance and whether design education can improve students' spatial capabilities. Two types of capabilities tests, i.e. spatial capability test and general reasoning test, are used, and there are 251 Georgia Tech undergraduate students involved in this research. The results of this research suggest that the correlations between design studio performance and the tested factors are more salient among female students than male students. While female students generally have lower spatial capabilities than male students in design, they can take advantage of their general reasoning capability to compensate for the lack of the other two spatial capabilities and perform well in design studio. A stepwise regression further reveals that, for the female design student group, the general reasoning capability is the only predictor for their design performance. However, no significant interaction is observed in the male design student group between tested capabilities and design studio performance. As a result, there seems to exist a threshold requirement in spatial capabilities for design major students. After passing this threshold, other factors such as domain specific skills and knowledge or self-motivation would likely to be the dominant one. Lastly, although the results show the tested capabilities are all important for design major students from different perspectives, the design education does not show any contribution in the improvement of these capabilities.

The use of examples in idea generation is a common practice intended to provide inspiration from existing products to the designing of new ones. Examples can be taken from the Internet, engineering textbooks, analogical databases, literature, a company’s prior designs, or from a competitor company, prior work by the designer, and many other sources. These examples are represented in various ways, such as hand sketches, pictures, computer-aided designs (CAD), physical models, activity diagrams, shape grammars, text descriptions, etc. Design representations can also be broken down by function in the form of functional models and decompositions. The use of these visual or physical examples allows engineers to get a clearer picture of how a design or component works and enables them to have a better understanding of the overall design and function. Each representation has inherent advantages and disadvantages in the way that they portray a design. Examples are sources for analogies. Analogies from nature, where biological organisms have solved challenging problems in novel ways, are very useful in engineering idea generation and solution retrieval. This process is called biologically inspired design. Engineers often use biologically inspired design to solve problems while increasing creativity and expanding the solution space. Using this method, engineers are able to learn from nature and apply biological principles to real world engineering problems to make effective designs and produce innovative solutions. It is important to have a clearer understanding of how the use of the representations and characteristics of examples as external stimuli affect the idea generation process in engineering design. Understanding these processes will be invaluable in offering guidelines for how engineering design should be done and what types of external stimuli should be used to allow for innovation and creativity to be enhanced. This dissertation presents four studies that focus on understanding ways that examples can be used to improve the idea generation process. Three of these studies focus on how the representation of externally imposed examples, which may be used as analogues, influences creativity during idea generation while also minimizing design fixation, which occurs when designers adhere to the features of their own initial design solutions or to features of existing examples. The fourth study focuses on the use of examples as sources for analogical mapping and how these examples produce innovative solutions during idea generation. The first study compares CAD, sketch, and photograph representation presented individually. The second study compares CAD and sketch representation presented together, and the third study examines function tree and sketch representations. The fourth study looks at the real-world context and impact of examples used as sources for analogical mapping to inspire innovative solutions. The results of the studies show that CAD representations of good examples are effective in allowing engineers to identify the key working principles of a design and help to develop higher quality design concepts. CAD representations also cause more fixation to the example’s features. Function trees do not cause nor break fixation compared to a control condition, but do reduce fixation compared with sketches. Biological examples can be successfully used as analogues during engineering idea generation to create novel and effective design solutions to relevant and real-world engineering problems.

The goal of this project is to reimagine learning spaces by combining education and architecture principles and a hint of imagination. This is done through designing a school in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. for children aged 3-12. The design integrates Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio principles with behavioral and neuroscientific insights. Additionally, the imaginative essence of "Alice in Wonderland" brings a whimsical dimension, adding an enchanting layer to the architectural narrative. The design of the school considers how space impacts cognition and creativity, in addition to functional aspects. Highlighting the bond between architecture and neuroscience, the design emphasizes how the built environment shapes children's cognition and emotions. Sensory experiences, architectural elements, and nature integration shape the ambiance, significantly influencing children's cognitive development. Through a blend of educational philosophies, neuroscience findings, and the timeless allure of Wonderland, it aims to sculpt an environment that encourages curiosity, creativity, and profound world connection in children. / Master of Architecture / The aim of this project is to rethink the design of learning spaces by merging educational and architectural principles with a touch of imagination. This involves designing a school in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. for children aged 3-12. The design incorporates ideas from early childhood education philosophies along with insights from behavioral science and neuroscience. To add a touch of whimsy, the project draws inspiration from Alice in Wonderland's story as an additional layer to the architectural story. The school's design considers how the physical space influences children's thinking and creativity while performing its practical functions. It underscores the close connection between architecture and brain science, emphasizing how the physical environment molds children's cognitive abilities and emotions. Sensory experiences, architectural elements, and the integration of natural elements shape the atmosphere, profoundly affecting children's cognitive development. By combining these diverse educational philosophies, neuroscience findings, and the timeless charm of the "Alice in Wonderland" story, the project strives to shape an environment that fosters curiosity, creativity, and a deep connection to the world for children.

Biomimetic design uses biological analogies to produce innovative engineering solutions. However, designers face challenges in identifying useful biological analogies and correctly applying the analogies identified to design solutions. To overcome these challenges, this thesis proposes the use of causally related functions in biomimetic design. Causally related functions describe how a desired function is enabled by another function. To support the use of causally related functions, a set of tools was developed. First, the causal relation template and mapping techniques (one-to-one mapping instructions and problem-independent scenario mapping) were devised to assist designers to identify and apply causally related functions from descriptions of biological phenomena. In pen-and-paper experiments with senior undergraduate engineering students, the causal relation template, if used correctly, facilitated the development of design concepts that were analogous to biological phenomena provided as sources of analogy. In addition, the mapping techniques reduced the percentage of participants who made non-analogous associations from biological phenomena to develop design concepts. Another tool developed was the causal relation retrieval method. The method uses syntactic information in natural language sentences to explicitly identify causally related functions. A modified verbal protocol study with graduate engineering students revealed that the retrieval method increased the likelihood of locating biological phenomena relevant to given design problems compared to a single verb-keyword search method. Also, the search matches located with the retrieval method were more likely to facilitate functional association to develop design concepts. These results demonstrate that the knowledge structure of causally related functions can support both the identification of relevant biological phenomena in natural language text and use of analogical reasoning between the biological phenomena and design solutions. The causal relation template and mapping strategies developed contribute to the field of biomimetic design as training methods for designers; and the causal relation retrieval method could serve a technique to bridge the gap between the natural language approach and the modeling approach to biomimetic design.

Biomimetic design uses biological analogies to produce innovative engineering solutions. However, designers face challenges in identifying useful biological analogies and correctly applying the analogies identified to design solutions. To overcome these challenges, this thesis proposes the use of causally related functions in biomimetic design. Causally related functions describe how a desired function is enabled by another function. To support the use of causally related functions, a set of tools was developed. First, the causal relation template and mapping techniques (one-to-one mapping instructions and problem-independent scenario mapping) were devised to assist designers to identify and apply causally related functions from descriptions of biological phenomena. In pen-and-paper experiments with senior undergraduate engineering students, the causal relation template, if used correctly, facilitated the development of design concepts that were analogous to biological phenomena provided as sources of analogy. In addition, the mapping techniques reduced the percentage of participants who made non-analogous associations from biological phenomena to develop design concepts. Another tool developed was the causal relation retrieval method. The method uses syntactic information in natural language sentences to explicitly identify causally related functions. A modified verbal protocol study with graduate engineering students revealed that the retrieval method increased the likelihood of locating biological phenomena relevant to given design problems compared to a single verb-keyword search method. Also, the search matches located with the retrieval method were more likely to facilitate functional association to develop design concepts. These results demonstrate that the knowledge structure of causally related functions can support both the identification of relevant biological phenomena in natural language text and use of analogical reasoning between the biological phenomena and design solutions. The causal relation template and mapping strategies developed contribute to the field of biomimetic design as training methods for designers; and the causal relation retrieval method could serve a technique to bridge the gap between the natural language approach and the modeling approach to biomimetic design.

There is a societal need for design education to prepare holistic engineers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to innovate and compete globally. Design skills are paramount to the espoused values of higher education, as institutions of higher learning strive to develop in students the cognitive abilities of critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. To meet these interests from industry and academia, it is important to advance the teaching and learning of engineering design. This research aims to understand how engineering students learn and think about design, as a way for engineering educators to optimize instructional practice and curriculum development. Qualitative research methodology was used to investigate the meaning that engineering students’ ascribe to engineering design. The recruitment of participants and corresponding collection of data occurred in two phases using two different data collection techniques. The first phase involved the distribution of a one-time online questionnaire to all first year, third year, and fourth year undergraduate engineering students at three Canadian Universities. After the questionnaire, students were asked if they would be willing to participate in the second phase of data collection consisting of a personal interview. A total of ten students participated in interviews. Qualitative data analysis procedures were conducted on students’ responses from the questionnaire and interviews. The data analysis process consisted of two phases: a descriptive phase to code and categorize the data, followed by an interpretative phase to generate further meaning and relationships. The research findings present a conceptual understanding of students’ descriptions about engineering design, structured within two educational orientations: a learning studies orientation and a curriculum studies orientation. The learning studies orientation captured three themes of students’ understanding of engineering design: awareness, relevance, and transfer. With this framework of student learning, engineering educators can enhance learning experiences by engaging all three levels of students’ understanding. The curriculum studies orientation applied the three holistic elements of curriculum—subject matter, society, and the individual—to conceptualize design considerations for engineering curriculum and teaching practice. This research supports the characterization of students’ learning experiences to help educators and students optimize their teaching and learning of design education. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-23 12:22:24.3

abstract: The main objective of this project was to create a framework for holistic ideation and research about the technical issues involved in creating a holistic approach. Towards that goal, we explored different components of ideation (both logical and intuitive), characterized ideation states, and found new ideation blocks with strategies used to overcome them. One of the major contributions of this research is the method by which easy traversal between different ideation methods with different components were facilitated, to support both creativity and functional quality. Another important part of the framework is the sensing of ideation states (blocks/ unfettered ideation) and investigation of matching ideation strategies most likely to facilitate progress. Some of the ideation methods embedded in the initial holistic test bed are Physical effects catalog, working principles catalog, TRIZ, Bio-TRIZ and Artifacts catalog. Repositories were created for each of those. This framework will also be used as a research tool to collect large amount of data from designers about their choice of ideation strategies used, and their effectiveness. Effective documentation of design ideation paths is also facilitated using this holistic approach. A computer tool facilitating holistic ideation was developed. Case studies were run on different designers to document their ideation states and their choice of ideation strategies to come up with a good solution to solve the same design problem. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2011

No sistema produtivo contemporâneo, o design é uma atividade central, pois responde pelo projeto de bens e serviços. Design não está, todavia, relacionado apenas com as capacidades criativas ou com leituras estéticas do projetista – como faz crer o uso popular da palavra - englobando profissionais dos mais diversos domínios. Um engenheiro eletrônico que projeta circuitos; um engenheiro mecânico que projeta motores; um arquiteto que projeta um edifício; um designer gráfico que projeta uma marca; um analista que projeta um software: todos são designers. Em comum estes profissionais têm o mesmo tipo de problema, e assim o percurso cognitivo destes profissionais é similar. Da mesma forma, espera-se que um designer que projeta um artefato educacional digital também apresente comportamentos semelhantes durante o processo de projeto. Todavia, como é regra para a atividade de design, o projeto de artefato educacionais digitais tem seus desafios. Neste caso específico, o desafio do designer está no fato de que ele não pode projetar sozinho. Até mesmo nas etapas iniciais do projeto - quando se está gerando idéias e explorando conceitos, quando não se tem clara a forma ou mesmo a estrutura do artefato – o designer não pode projetar sozinho. Isto porque, para este tipo de artefato, o conhecimento e as habilidades do designer precisam ser orientadas por educadores e especialistas no domínio. Neste cenário se colocam as questões de pesquisa desta tese, que buscam compreender qual papel o designer tem enquanto membro de uma equipe de desenvolvimento de artefatos digitais educacionais. Como se entende que o designer não pode projetar este tipo de artefato sozinho, os objetivos específicos desta tese relacionam-se à cooperação com outro especialista: o educador. Deseja-se investigar como estes profissionais constroem colaborativamente o espaço do problema; quais estratégias de projeto os designers utilizam; e se há evidências de sobreposição entre os domínios pertinentes ao problema (neste caso, “educação”, “design” e “química”). Utilizando métodos adaptados à análise de atividades de design, investigou-se a atividade de duas duplas – formadas por um designer e por um educador especialista no domínio – buscando regularidades que pudessem responder à tais questões. Os resultados sugerem que a complexidade do tema não é um fator tão marcante para a qualidade do projeto quanto a estratégia utilizada pelo designer. Quando o designer decidiu tentar “brifar” seu colega – a fim de estruturar seu conhecimento sobre o tema para embasar o projeto – o efeito da complexidade do tema se fez sentir. Já quando o designer buscou integrar rapidamente as informações recebidas de seu colega educador ao projeto - sem antes buscar estruturar seu conhecimento sobre o tema – o efeito do tema foi tênue. Nenhuma destas estratégias corresponde à descrição de processos de design reportadas na literatura. Ao utilizar a estratégia de “integrar o mais rápido possível”, o designer deixou claras algumas de suas concepções a respeito dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem; teorias implícitas provavelmente construídas durante sua exposição à educação formal. Ao usar a estratégia “estruturar para depois projetar”, o designer não demonstrou identificar implicações e potenciais estruturais da orientação teórica seguida pelo seu colega. Estes resultados podem fundamentar – em pesquisas futuras - uma discussão a respeito da necessidade da atenção à formação de designers para trabalhar no projeto de artefatos digitais educacionais. / In the contemporary production system, design is a central activity, as it is the mean to provide artifacts and services. Design is not, however, related solely to the creative skills or aesthetic preferences of the designer - as the popular use of the word may seem to - comprising professionals from various fields. An electronic engineer who designs circuits, a mechanical engineer who designs engines, an architect who designs a building, a graphic designer who designs a brand, an analyst who designs software: they are all designers. These professionals have in common the same kind of problem, and thus their cognitive routes are similar. Likewise, it is expected that a designer who designs an educational digital artifact also presents similar behavior during the design process. However, as a rule for the design activity, the design of educational digital artifact has its challenges. In the case of this particular class of problem, the designer's challenge is the fact that he cannot design alone. Even in the early stages of the project – idea generation and concept exploration, when there is no clear shape or structure of the artifact - the designer cannot design alone. This is because, for this type of artifact, the knowledge and skills of the designer need to be guided by educators and specialists in the field. In this scenario, the research questions of this thesis is raised, which seeks to understand what role the designer has as a member of a team of educational development of digital artifacts. How does he build the problem space? What strategies does he use when he has knowledge to design alone? How do the domains of design and education intersect and overlap? Using methods adapted to the analysis of design activities, the activity of two pairs of subjects were recorded – the pairs consisting of a designer and an expert educator in the field - looking for regularities that could answer the questions of the thesis. The results suggest that the complexity of the subject area (chemistry) was not a factor as remarkable for the quality of the project as the strategy used by the designer. When the designer decided to "brief" his colleague - to structure his knowledge on the subject area to support of the project - the effect of the complexity of the issue was felt. But when the designer sought to quickly integrate the information received from his fellow educator within the project - without first seeking to structure his knowledge on the subject - the effect of topic was tenuous. None of these strategies corresponds to the description of design processes reported in the literature. By using the strategy “integrate as soon as possible”, the designer made his perception about the processes of teaching and learning clear: implicit theories probably built during his exposure to formal education. By using the strategy "structure and then design”, the designer did not spot potential structural implications of the theoretical orientation followed by his colleague. These results support a discussion about the need of special education for designers who will work with educational digital artifacts.

No sistema produtivo contemporâneo, o design é uma atividade central, pois responde pelo projeto de bens e serviços. Design não está, todavia, relacionado apenas com as capacidades criativas ou com leituras estéticas do projetista – como faz crer o uso popular da palavra - englobando profissionais dos mais diversos domínios. Um engenheiro eletrônico que projeta circuitos; um engenheiro mecânico que projeta motores; um arquiteto que projeta um edifício; um designer gráfico que projeta uma marca; um analista que projeta um software: todos são designers. Em comum estes profissionais têm o mesmo tipo de problema, e assim o percurso cognitivo destes profissionais é similar. Da mesma forma, espera-se que um designer que projeta um artefato educacional digital também apresente comportamentos semelhantes durante o processo de projeto. Todavia, como é regra para a atividade de design, o projeto de artefato educacionais digitais tem seus desafios. Neste caso específico, o desafio do designer está no fato de que ele não pode projetar sozinho. Até mesmo nas etapas iniciais do projeto - quando se está gerando idéias e explorando conceitos, quando não se tem clara a forma ou mesmo a estrutura do artefato – o designer não pode projetar sozinho. Isto porque, para este tipo de artefato, o conhecimento e as habilidades do designer precisam ser orientadas por educadores e especialistas no domínio. Neste cenário se colocam as questões de pesquisa desta tese, que buscam compreender qual papel o designer tem enquanto membro de uma equipe de desenvolvimento de artefatos digitais educacionais. Como se entende que o designer não pode projetar este tipo de artefato sozinho, os objetivos específicos desta tese relacionam-se à cooperação com outro especialista: o educador. Deseja-se investigar como estes profissionais constroem colaborativamente o espaço do problema; quais estratégias de projeto os designers utilizam; e se há evidências de sobreposição entre os domínios pertinentes ao problema (neste caso, “educação”, “design” e “química”). Utilizando métodos adaptados à análise de atividades de design, investigou-se a atividade de duas duplas – formadas por um designer e por um educador especialista no domínio – buscando regularidades que pudessem responder à tais questões. Os resultados sugerem que a complexidade do tema não é um fator tão marcante para a qualidade do projeto quanto a estratégia utilizada pelo designer. Quando o designer decidiu tentar “brifar” seu colega – a fim de estruturar seu conhecimento sobre o tema para embasar o projeto – o efeito da complexidade do tema se fez sentir. Já quando o designer buscou integrar rapidamente as informações recebidas de seu colega educador ao projeto - sem antes buscar estruturar seu conhecimento sobre o tema – o efeito do tema foi tênue. Nenhuma destas estratégias corresponde à descrição de processos de design reportadas na literatura. Ao utilizar a estratégia de “integrar o mais rápido possível”, o designer deixou claras algumas de suas concepções a respeito dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem; teorias implícitas provavelmente construídas durante sua exposição à educação formal. Ao usar a estratégia “estruturar para depois projetar”, o designer não demonstrou identificar implicações e potenciais estruturais da orientação teórica seguida pelo seu colega. Estes resultados podem fundamentar – em pesquisas futuras - uma discussão a respeito da necessidade da atenção à formação de designers para trabalhar no projeto de artefatos digitais educacionais. / In the contemporary production system, design is a central activity, as it is the mean to provide artifacts and services. Design is not, however, related solely to the creative skills or aesthetic preferences of the designer - as the popular use of the word may seem to - comprising professionals from various fields. An electronic engineer who designs circuits, a mechanical engineer who designs engines, an architect who designs a building, a graphic designer who designs a brand, an analyst who designs software: they are all designers. These professionals have in common the same kind of problem, and thus their cognitive routes are similar. Likewise, it is expected that a designer who designs an educational digital artifact also presents similar behavior during the design process. However, as a rule for the design activity, the design of educational digital artifact has its challenges. In the case of this particular class of problem, the designer's challenge is the fact that he cannot design alone. Even in the early stages of the project – idea generation and concept exploration, when there is no clear shape or structure of the artifact - the designer cannot design alone. This is because, for this type of artifact, the knowledge and skills of the designer need to be guided by educators and specialists in the field. In this scenario, the research questions of this thesis is raised, which seeks to understand what role the designer has as a member of a team of educational development of digital artifacts. How does he build the problem space? What strategies does he use when he has knowledge to design alone? How do the domains of design and education intersect and overlap? Using methods adapted to the analysis of design activities, the activity of two pairs of subjects were recorded – the pairs consisting of a designer and an expert educator in the field - looking for regularities that could answer the questions of the thesis. The results suggest that the complexity of the subject area (chemistry) was not a factor as remarkable for the quality of the project as the strategy used by the designer. When the designer decided to "brief" his colleague - to structure his knowledge on the subject area to support of the project - the effect of the complexity of the issue was felt. But when the designer sought to quickly integrate the information received from his fellow educator within the project - without first seeking to structure his knowledge on the subject - the effect of topic was tenuous. None of these strategies corresponds to the description of design processes reported in the literature. By using the strategy “integrate as soon as possible”, the designer made his perception about the processes of teaching and learning clear: implicit theories probably built during his exposure to formal education. By using the strategy "structure and then design”, the designer did not spot potential structural implications of the theoretical orientation followed by his colleague. These results support a discussion about the need of special education for designers who will work with educational digital artifacts.