Investigating the Impact of Productive Failure Activities on Student Engineering Design

• In Event: 63.086 - Sheraton Roundtable 11 - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 63.086-1 - Division C Section 1e Roundtable 3

Abstract

Students, when working on engineering design projects, are commonly observed to ignore implicit design constraints and interpret design problems superficially. This paper studied utilizing productive failure (PF) activities to encourage youth to investigate the hidden constraints. Middle school youth participated in a week-long vacation camp to create LEGO cars of their choices. They completed two PF activities before the final project, designing cars that can (1) run as fast as possible, and (2) carry a minimum weight of 1500 g. The results showed that the PF activities prompted youth to actively investigate parameters they ignored previously and expand the problem space they explored. This study provides invaluable insights to engineering education and extends the research on productive failure.

Authors

• Helen Zhang, Boston College

• Amy R Semerjian, Boston College

• David W. Jackson, Boston College