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|  | |  |\n|  |  |  |  |  |  |\n\nFALL 2016  \nThe Problem Solving Studio: An Apprenticeship Environment for Aspiring Engineers  \nJOSEPH M. LE DOUX  \nAND  \nALISHA A. WALLER  \nGeorgia institute of Technology Atlanta, GA  \nABSTRACT  \nThis paper describes the problem-solving studio (PSS) learning environment. PSS was designed to teach students how to solve difficult analytical engineering problems without resorting to rote memorization of algorithms, while at the same time developing their deep conceptual understanding of the course topics. There are several key features of PSS. First, students work in teams of two to solve problems, working at the same table with another team of two. The student teams and tables are stable, remaining together for most of the semester. The teams work in a public, shared problem-solving space that allows in-class mentors (near peers of the students) and the instructor to observe and critique their work. The public nature of the work enables the instructor to provide students with real-time, situated feedback. In addition, it enables the instructor to tailor the challenge level to the needs of each team, such that the problem is too difficult for any one student to solve on their own, but reasonable enough that the team can solve it together, given the support that the PSS environment provides. We call this targeted adjustment of the problem’s difficulty dynamic scaffolding. PSS provides the support students need through a specific set of participant structures that govern how the instructors, in-class mentors, and students interact during class. This paper describes the PSS approach and how it has been implemented in an entry-level course at Georgia Tech called “Conservation Principles of Biomedical Engineering (BMED 2210)”. Our results show that even though PSS emphasizes engineering problem-solving skills, the students’ conceptual understanding of the material significantly improves, as measured by Shallcross’material and energy balances concept inventory. The implications of our work, particularly with respect to the use of PSS in flipped classrooms, are discussed.  \nKey words: studio, problem-solving, problem-solving studio, flipped classroom, dynamic scaffolding, collaborative learning, apprenticeship, engineering, material and energy balances, near peers  \nADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION  \nThe Problem Solving Studio: An Apprenticeship Environment for Aspiring Engineers  \nINTRODUCTION  \nA key objective of many first-year engineering courses is to introduce undergraduates to the approaches engineers take to solve problems. In an effort to apprentice students to the engineering problem solving approach, many entry-level engineering textbooks provide students with a step-by-step procedure that is remarkably similar across multiple domains of engineering (Craig 1996; Himmelblau and Riggs 2004; McGill and King 1995) . These procedures encourage the problem solver to 1) read and understand the problem, 2) abstract the key features of the problem to create an idealized model of the system, often in the form of a diagram, 3) use the diagram, in concert with fundamental principles, to generate and solve a mathematical model, and 4) check whether or not the answer is reasonable. These steps are explicitly listed and explained in the textbooks and course instructors emphasize and teach these steps to their students. Nevertheless, large numbers of students continue to struggle in, and sometimes fail to pass, entry level engineering courses (Felder et al. 1994; Suresh 2006) .  \nOne reason for this is that many novice engineering students are ill-equipped to solve engineering problems. Many students enter their first engineering course adept at solving relatively simple, wellstructured problems but with little prior experience in dealing with ill-structured, complex problems (Hestenes, Wells, and Swackhamer 199","cbCaicx4LRtyzPr3","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicx4LRtyzPr3","pdf",1583199,27,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Textbook problem-solving procedures and limitations\n## Ill-structured problem solving and rote strategies\n## Parallel findings from chemistry education","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the PSS learning environment address for engineering students?\",\"answer\":\"PSS targets students’ difficulty with difficult analytical engineering problems, especially when they rely on rote memorization or ineffective “plug-and-chug” strategies instead of conceptual understanding.\"},{\"question\":\"How do students work in PSS during class?\",\"answer\":\"Students work in stable teams of two, sitting at shared tables within a public problem-solving space where instructors and near-peer mentors observe and critique their work.\"},{\"question\":\"What is dynamic scaffolding in PSS?\",\"answer\":\"Dynamic scaffolding is the targeted adjustment of problem difficulty so no single student can solve it alone, while the team can succeed with the support provided by the PSS environment.\"}]","The Problem Solving Studio - An Apprenticeship Environment for Aspiring Engineers | PDF",1792065748,68]