TY - GEN
T1 - Investigating mental models of mechanical engineering students
AU - Loch, Frieder
AU - Vogel-Heuser, Birgit
AU - Reinhold, Frank
AU - Bock, Saskia
AU - Hofer, Sarah
AU - Reiss, Kristina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 IEEE.
PY - 2019/9
Y1 - 2019/9
N2 - Today's innovation processes are interdisciplinary and require communication between stakeholders from different domains. The compatibility of mental models, which determine how individuals think about technical problems, decides the success of this communication. Previous research indicates that mechanical engineering students prefer procedural over structural approaches. However, structured research into the source of this preference is rare. This paper presents a study (n = 67) that investigates the mental models of mechanical engineering students of technical systems. Results indicate that mental models may depend on the presentation of a problem. A questionnaire yielded a preference for a procedural approach, while questions prompting verbal information instead yield a structural preference.
AB - Today's innovation processes are interdisciplinary and require communication between stakeholders from different domains. The compatibility of mental models, which determine how individuals think about technical problems, decides the success of this communication. Previous research indicates that mechanical engineering students prefer procedural over structural approaches. However, structured research into the source of this preference is rare. This paper presents a study (n = 67) that investigates the mental models of mechanical engineering students of technical systems. Results indicate that mental models may depend on the presentation of a problem. A questionnaire yielded a preference for a procedural approach, while questions prompting verbal information instead yield a structural preference.
KW - Engineering education
KW - Interdisciplinary collaboration
KW - Mental Models
KW - Programming paradigms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078002266&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ITHET46829.2019.8937356
DO - 10.1109/ITHET46829.2019.8937356
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85078002266
T3 - 2019 18th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training, ITHET 2019
BT - 2019 18th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training, ITHET 2019
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 18th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training, ITHET 2019
Y2 - 26 September 2019 through 27 September 2019
ER -