Advances in Engineering Education - WINTER 2009 - Using Concept Maps to Assess Interdisciplinary Integration of Green Engineering Knowledge

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky

Engineering education has begun using concept maps as an assessment method for knowledge integration. Concept maps let students visually connect topics and represent complex relationships among diverse concepts, making them suitable for evaluating interdisciplinary integration. Findings from a year-long green engineering design course support the approach’s viability. The study also identifies faculty scoring challenges specific to interdisciplinary maps, including differences in evaluation criteria, expertise, and investment, and concludes with guidance for selecting and training scorers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

I. Introduction

Interdisciplinary collaboration and need for assessment

Concept maps as an assessment technique

Faculty scoring challenges and research question

Advances in Engineering Education WINTER 2009 Using Concept Maps to Assess Interdisciplinary Integration of Green Engineering Knowledge Maura Borrego Chad B. NewswaNder Lisa d. McNair seaN McgiNNis Marie C. Paretti AbsTRAcT Engineering education, like many fields, has started to explore the benefits of concept maps asan assessment technique for knowledge integration. Because they allow students to graphically link topics and represent complex interconnections among diverse concepts, we argue that concept maps are particularly appropriate for assessing interdisciplinary knowledge integration. The results from a year-long study of a design course in green engineering demonstrate the viability of this approach. However, this research also highlights important issues in faculty scoring of interdisciplinary concept maps that may not be present when maps are used in traditional single-discipline settings. The interdisciplinary setting revealed differences in (1) evaluation criteria,(2) expertise, and (3) investment. We conclude with suggestions for selecting and training scorers to address these issues. Key Words: assessment, concept maps, green engineering, interdisciplinary I. INTRoducTIoN Calls for engineers who can operate in interdisciplinary environments have emerged from both government and industry in recent years. in response to the need for skills in interdisciplinary collaboration, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary design experiences have proliferated in engineering curricula, as even a brief survey of recent scholarship suggests [1, 2] . in engineering education, this is often enacted by bringing students from various disciplines together to work on a group project. as richter’s content analysis of asee conference papers demonstrates, engineering educators are creating innovative experiences at all academic levels and scales that bring students from different disciplines together to address complex technology needs [1] . smaller efforts involve a limited WINTER 2009 1 advancEs in EnginEEring EducaTion using concept Maps to assess interdisciplinary integration of green Engineering Knowledge number of engineering departments or a specific project. Chen et al., for example, describe a project that brings together students from mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineering to design and build a solar-powered boat [3] . in other cases, universities have well-developed programs supporting a wide range of projects, often with industry sponsors, and typically reaching out beyond engineering [4–7] . stanford’s institute of design, for example, includes business, medicine, the humanities, and education; howard university brings mechanical and electrical engineering students together with students in marketing and art to collaborate on industry-sponsored projects [8] . what such programs often lack, however, are effective assessment instruments to measure individual student learning gains associated with the interdisciplinary dimension of the projects. analysis of papers presented at the 2007 asee conference reveals that of 86 papers addressing multi-or interdisciplinary design, only two offered methods to assess the multi-/ interdisciplinary dimension [1, 2] . to bridge this gap, we focus on one of the hallmarks of interdisciplinary collaboration: knowledge integration. a number of leading researchers have highlighted the ability to synthesize or integrate knowledge and approaches from multiple disciplines as the key factor separating true interdisciplinarity from a multidisciplinary division of labor in which experts work only in their own domains. interdisciplinary collaborations require individuals from different backgrounds to come together, overcome seemingly incommensurable values and language patterns, integrate knowledge, and reach a high degree of consensus. good collaborators therefore possess the skills to integrate knowledge and communicate across disciplinary boundaries. o

FAQs

Why are concept maps considered appropriate for assessing interdisciplinary knowledge integration?

Concept maps help students graphically link topics and represent complex interconnections among diverse concepts, which supports evaluating how well knowledge integrates across disciplines.

What did the year-long green engineering design course show about using concept maps?

Results from the study demonstrated the approach’s viability for assessing interdisciplinary knowledge integration.

What issues arise in faculty scoring of interdisciplinary concept maps compared with traditional single-discipline settings?

Interdisciplinary settings can produce differences in evaluation criteria, scorer expertise, and investment, creating complexities that are less prominent in single-discipline contexts.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky