CAREER: A Study of How Engineering Students Approach Innovation

Despite the crucial link between engineering and innovation, research on engineering education in innovation is limited. While prior studies highlight some of the individual characteristics important for creativity, characteristics of innovators and entrepreneurs, and the critical role of organizations in supporting innovation, very little is known about how engineering students approach innovation and ways to measure these processes and their outcomes. The research component of this CAREER project aims to characterize how engineering students view and approach innovation. Aspects of the research that are accomplished so far include: 1) a multi-phase protocol that includes interviews, process mapping tasks, and think-aloud protocols, 2) a content analysis to determine typical innovation and discovery behaviors used in innovation in technical areas, and 3) a meta-synthesis of assessment methods used in engineering entrepreneurship. Based on the findings from these studies, we made recommendations that inform activities associated with the educational plan including classroom activities and assessment tools.