Kay Ramey
April 17, 2012
CTA Report
Focus statement
I am interested in teaching spatial visualization skills for engineering design to high
school or middle school students. Ideally instruction on spatial visualization skills would
be imbedded into a larger curriculum on engineering design. This could take the form of
either a computer-aided design course, a design course using paper and pencil
sketching and physical models or some combination of the two. In the context of such a
course, I am also interested in developing ways to use project-based engineering
instruction to convey key math and science concepts to these age groups.
There is considerable research demonstrating that one of the skills students need in
order to pursue careers in engineering is the ability to think spatially. Research has
found that spatial thinking skills predict performance in STEM fields, such as
engineering (e.g., Shea, Wai, Lubinski, 2001; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). More
specifically, Sorby (1999) found that visual thinking and particularly spatial visualization
skills are important for success in engineering. Furthermore, Hsi, Linn & Bell (1997)
found that spatial reasoning ability was a strong predictor of course grade for students
enrolled in a college engineering course. They also recommended the incorporation of
spatial strategies used by professional engineers into instruction in introductory college
engineering courses. My rationale for targeting younger students is both to prepare
them with a toolkit for success in engineering or other STEM college majors or careers
and also to expose them to engineering as a discipline and potential career option.
Initial resources
Although I do not have previous experience as a teacher or student of engineering, I am
familiar with some of the literature on spatial reasoning in engineering design (see
above). We are also familiar with at least one educational intervention to improve spatial
visualization skills for freshman engineering students (See Sorby, 1996; Sorby &
Baartmans, 2000). This course, however, targets only students who have scored low on
spatial ability tests and thus is considered a remedial course on spatial visualization for
engineering. We are also familiar with some K-12 engineering programs/curricula such
as Engineering is Elementary, Project SYNCERE, the James Dyson Foundation and
Girls 4 Science. These programs introduce younger students to engineering design
principles and tasks but do not necessarily specifically develop students’ spatial
visualization skills related to these tasks.
Bootstrapping
Step
1) Identify the Design Problem
Description
Talk to boss/client
2) Brainstorm
Come up with ideas (ie. more than one idea)
to solve the design problem
3) Sketch/Prototype
- Create sketches for a few of the design
ideas using 3D computer aided design (CAD)
program or pencil and paper
- Possibly produce physical prototype of
design(s)
Get Input on designs from:
a) Other engineers
b) Boss/client
c) Users
- Choose one design, revise based on
testing/feedback
4) Testing/Feedback
5) Final Design
List of experts
Joel Oropeza - Manufacturing and Design Engineer, Caterpillar Inc., Irving, TX
Problem(s)
What are the steps of the engineering design process? What skills are necessary to
complete this process? How might we convey these skills to novices?
Choice of method(s)
I’ve chosen to conduct an expert interview. I chose this method for multiple reasons.
First, the complete engineering design process is complex and time consuming, and
therefore does not lend itself well to a think-aloud. Further, any design activity that I
might come up with for a think-aloud would run the risk of being artificial, in that it might
not reflect the actual practice of a professional engineer. Additionally, I expect that our
expert will have a salient concept of the engineering design process that will be
relatively easy to access without doing a think-aloud task. Finally, as my expert is
remotely located (Irving, TX) I will have to conduct my interview with him via telephone.
This interviewing format does not lend itself well to the co-construction of a concept map
or a think-aloud procedure but is much better suited to an expert interview.
In addition to the expert interview, I have also asked our expert to complete a
psychometric assessment of spatial ability (Santa Barbara Solids Test). This was done
in order to insure that he is in fact an expert not only in engineering design but also in
spatial reasoning. The specific measure I used targeted the spatial visualization skill of
cross-sectioning, a skill that I hypothesized and my expert confirmed is often used by
professional engineers in the engineering design process.
Summary
The expert I interviewed was Joel Oropeza a manufacturing and design engineer for
Caterpillar Inc. in Irving, Texas. His job responsibilities include designing new products
or components for Caterpillar’s production line in order to improve efficiency and
productivity. He engages in both physical product design and also the design of
projects. The current project he is working on involves designing a cart to move heavy
(2000+ lb) Caterpillar machines. He also engages in engineering related activities in his
free time, including the design and construction of remote controlled airplanes.
He described the goal of the design process as being to design an innovative product or
component for the company or a client to improve efficiency or productivity. Underneath
the main goal of creating a new product to fill a specific manufacturing need, he also
mentioned important subgoals. These included producing a product that was 1) safe
and 2) economical. He also mentioned that although it is not a factor in manufacturing
design, in other engineering design contexts there is a third goal of producing a product
that is aesthetically pleasing and/or marketable.
Hierarchical goal/task analysis
Procedures
Step
Type Description
1) Identify the Design A
Talk to client
Problem
- what kind of
machine/component does
the company need
- what do they need it to
do
- what is currently being
used by the company
2) Research the
A
Web Research
Concept/Process/Principle
- Knowledge of what
information needs to
be obtained
- Ability to elicit that
information from
boss/client
-
Ability to use a
Design Problem
- what other companies
might have the same or a
similar type of machine,
- what kind of tool have
others used to address
this design problem
- research patents for
existing
machines/components
- research similar
products/designs/ideas
- research materials - find
economic material with
necessary characteristics
3) Do we need to
Design?
D
4) Brainstorm
A
5) Choose best ideas D
6) Metrics/Sketches
A
Does a product already
exist that we can use? If
so, stop and use that
product. If not, continue
to Step 4.
-
-
-
computer
Ability to conduct
internet research
Knowledge of what
needs to be
researched
Knowledge of
where/how to find the
relevant information.
Ability to synthesize
research in order to
draw a conclusion
about whether to
proceed with design
or not.
- Creativity
- individually or more often
- Experience with
with a team brainstorm
brainstorming
solutions to design
conventions.
problem
- Knowledge (either
prior or obtained from
steps 1 and 2) about
what things/types of
things the design
should include.
- Ability (based on prior
- Pick the best, most
knowledge or information
workable ideas from
brainstorming. Continue to from steps 1 and 2) to
distinguish good ideas from
step 6.
bad ones.
- Creativity
- Create sketches using
- Computer literacy
3D computer aided design
- Ability to use design
(CAD) program
software.
- Create multiple sketches
- knowledge of what
for multiple options/ideas
needs to be included
(ex. For the cart project,
in a good sketch or
created 4 different
metric
designs for carts to move
machines)
- All design should include
necessary qualities
- Sketches accompanied
by information about
materials, dimensions,
cost, weight, time to
manufacture and other
physical properties of the
design called “metrics”
- Here decisions have to
be made about what
material to use etc. In
doing this, he says safety
is the number one priority,
followed by cost
effectiveness (ie. highest
quality material for the
lowest price)
6) Testing/Final
Elements Analysis
A
- After creating sketches
and metrics each
sketch/metric must be run
through a computer
simulation to gauge
strength of
materials/design etc. (how
well the part will hold up
under necessary amounts
of weight/pressure/force)
- Find out what stresses
you’re going to have on a
part
- consider material,
shape, structure
- Ideally you want to
choose a design that can
handle 1.2, 1.4 or even 2
times as much
force/pressure/weight as
-
-
-
Understanding of
how to use the
simulation software
Understanding of the
underlying principles
of:
Physics
Trigonometry
solid mechanics
fluid mechanics
dynamics
kinematics
gravity
velocity
momentum
Knowledge of when
and how to apply
math and science
concepts
what the part will actually
encounter during use
- Done on a computer
- Analysis that takes 3
hours to do by hand takes
less than an hour on the
computer
- Might have to change
design based on this
analysis
7) Feedback
A
8) Choose best
design
D
9) “Final” more
detailed Design
A
- Input from:
a) Other
design/manufacturing
engineers
b) Boss/client
c) maintenence personnel
(those who have maintain
the machine/part after its
manufactured)
d) users (people who will
be working with the
manufactured design)
e) safety manager
Do we have a good
design, IF so, select it and
proceed to step 9. IF not,
go back to step 4 or step
6.. IF we have a design
that is mostly workable
but needs small tweaks,
make changes and then
proceed to step 9.
- choose 1 of the metrics
and do a more detailed
design
- includes schematics for
manufacturing
- top, side and cross
section computer
generated images
- information on materials
etc. included in original
metric
- ability to present designs in
a comprehensible way
- ability to understand
feedback
-
-
ability to understand
and incorporate
feedback into final
design
knowledge of what
features need to be
present in the final
design schematics in
order for design to be
manufactured
Conditions
1) Identify the Design Problem: Conditions – There is a design problem that needs
to be solved and we need clarification as to what that design problem entails.
2) Research the Design Problem: Conditions – We need more information about
other approaches to addressing this design problem and/or possible materials or
processes we could use to address it.
3) Do we need to design?: Conditions – We have complete step 2 and now need to
decide whether to proceed to step 4.
4) Brainstorm: Conditions – We need help generating ideas to address the design
problem.
5) Choose best ideas: Conditions – We have completed step 4 and need to know
which ideas from the brainstorming session we will use as we proceed to step 6.
6) Sketching/metrics: Conditions – We need to produce visual representations of
our solutions to the design problem.
7) Testing/Final Element Analysis: Conditions – We have come up with some
designs that we think will address the problem but now we have to test them to
make sure they are safe, economical, feasible, and efficient.
8) Feedback: Conditions – We want to make sure our boss or client is happy with
our designs and to see if any changes need to be made to any of the designs.
Then we want to select one design to be turned into a final product.
9) “Final” more detailed design: Conditions – We have decided on a final design.
Now we need to make the necessary improvements or changes to the previous
iteration of that design and produce sketches/metrics containing all of the
necessary features/information from which the design can be manufactured.
Equipment
10) Identify the Design Problem: Equipment needed – the client.
11) Research the Design Problem: Equipment needed - Internet enabled computer.
12) Do we need to design?: Equipment needed - research on the design problem.
13) Brainstorm: Equipment needed – Whiteboard and marker or paper and pencil,
team of other engineers to bounce ideas off of.
14) Choose best ideas: Equipment needed – ideas produced in brainstorming
session.
15) Sketching/metrics: Equipment needed - CAD software, such as Solidword, Pro-E,
Unigraphix, Inventors, or Autocad. My expert mentioned that not all of these
software programs are the same and that some are better than others. For
example, he mentioned that Autocad great for producing 3D representation of a
design but that there was no easy way to extract 2D schematics and crosssections from that 3D model. This is problematic, because such 2D schematics
are necessary for manufacturing. If a designer starts out in Autocad, he/she
eventually has to create them by hand or redo the design in another program,
such as Pro-E, in which once you have the 3D representation, you can have the
computer create a top, side or cross-section view of the design automatically.
16) Testing/Final Element Analysis: Equipment needed - computer simulation
software. This could also be done by hand with paper and pencil calculations, but
it is much more time consuming (think 3 hours vs. <1 hour) and therefore is not
usually done in modern professional engineering.
17) Feedback: Equipment needed – other engineers, client, boss, maintenance
personnel, safety inspector, or users; sketches/metrics from step 6.
18) “Final” more detailed design: Equipment needed – computer design and
simulation software, physical products of steps 4 through 8.
Performance goals
1) Identify the Design Problem: Performance Goals – Understand the Design
Problem.
2) Research the Design Problem: Performance Goals – Find out if there are other
products out there that do the thing we are designing for. Find out what elements
a product would need/could have to address the design problem.
3) Do we need to design?: Performance Goals – Make a decision based on
research.
4) Brainstorm: Performance Goals – Come up with some plausible ideas.
5) Choose best ideas: Performance Goals – Choose the very best of the ideas from
step 4.
6) Sketching/metrics: Performance Goals – Create sketches metrics that convey
enough information about each design so that others will be able to determine its
critical features and make informed judgments about it.
7) Testing/Final Element Analysis: Performance Goals – Ensure that the product is
safe, functional, efficient and cost-effective.
8) Feedback: Performance Goals – 1) Reach a conclusion about which design to
proceed with, 2) make sure the client/boss is happy with the product, 3) find out
what needs to be changed.
9) “Final” more detailed design: Performance Goals – Create sketches/metrics that
include all of the information about design necessary for the manufacturers to
create it.
Performance standards
1) Identify the Design Problem: Performance standard(s) – Do we understand the
Design Problem?
2) Research the Design Problem: Performance standard(s) – 1) Are we confident
that there is not another product that already does the thing we are trying to
design for? 2) Do we have all the necessary information we need to start
designing?
3) Do we need to design?: Performance standard(s) – Has a decision, informed by
step 2 been made?
4) Brainstorm: Performance standard(s) – Have we come up with a few plausible
ideas?
5) Choose best ideas: Performance standard(s) – Have we chosen the plausible
ideas from step 4?
6) Sketching/metrics: Performance standard(s) – Have we included enough
information about each design so that others will be able to determine its critical
features and make informed judgments about it?
7) Testing/Final Element Analysis: Performance standard(s) – Have we accurately
tested all foreseeable physical problems that might be encountered by our design
and tested/simulated its readiness for those situations?
8) Feedback: Performance standard(s) – 1) Have we reached a conclusion about
which design to proceed with? 2) Do we know what if any changes need to be
made to the design?
9) “Final” more detailed design: Performance standard(s) - Have we included all of
the information about design necessary for the manufacturers to create it?
Experiences
NA