What could design learning look like ?

At the Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching we are conducting a study of engineering design expertise in which experts engage in the same tasks as students from a series of previous studies. One study goal is to create a continuum of engineering design expertise across a subset of dimensions (e.g., cognitive, process, affective) to describe learners’ growth toward acquiring expertise. We envision this continuum as a tool for researchers to identify research opportunities or compare across studies, and for educators as a way of using research to inform teaching decisions. In developing the continuum our work has been guided by two questions: (1) how can we describe the shape of learning trajectories on the continuum and (2) what are important dimensions or road markers we can use to characterize the acquisition of expertise along these trajectories? This continuum will be populated by existing research and findings from our expert study. At this time, we are stepping back and exploring rich knowledge sources outside of the design research community such as the learning sciences. In this paper we present four windows into learning to motivate a discussion on possible trajectories and dimensions of acquiring engineering design expertise: learning viewed through within-subjects empirical data on student design processes, learning as adaptive expertise, learning as a complex dynamic system, and learning as discourse. As an exploration, we anticipate this discussion will promote dialogue on the dimensions and shapes of design learning as well as other research implications.