Defining, teaching, and assessing problem solving skills

Problem solving skills have always been important in many professions. However, ABET EC 2000 [1] recently put a new focus on these skills in engineering education with outcome 3e, which states that engineering graduates must “have an ability to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems”. Problem solving is defined as a process, used to obtain a best answer to an unknown, or a decision subject to some constraints. Problem solving is not the same as textbook exercise solving, which is very common in engineering curricula. The paper first defines engineering problem solving and in particular what it means to “identify and formulate” a problem. This definition will set the stage for identifying the skills students need to acquire and the attributes they must possess to be classified as competent problem solvers. Next, the paper introduces course design elements that help students master these skills. Finally, the paper presents and analyzes data on student performance in these types of problems.