Introduction of Diagnostic Problem-solving Approach within Undergraduate Design Courses – Application to Building Illumination

The engineers are usually confronted to two types of problems: design or investigative problems. The new design problem concerns the creation of a new product (in our case the product is a building, building component, mechanical or electrical system) and the investigative consists of fixing an existing product using a sequential diagnostic. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved, and so the product or process can be made operational again. Investigation is needed to develop and maintain complex systems where the symptoms of a problem can have many possible causes. In this paper, we introduce how these two notions have been introduced to undergraduate students through basic design courses. A case study from building engineering is presented: building illumination investigation in elementary schools will be presented and discussed. We discuss the design work from students’ point of view, and the experience earned in design, experimentation, and also in written and oral communication skills. Future plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the case studies in terms of learning outcomes, as well as plans to evaluate it in undergraduate architectural engineering training are also presented.