A Tool to Measure Adaptive Expertise in Biomedical Engineering Students

While engineering programs must continue to cover the maximum breadth and depth of content information possible, these programs can also take an active role in encouraging and fostering additional dispositions to help their graduates adapt to their professional career. We define an adaptive expert as an individual who possesses the content knowledge of an expert, but who in addition displays specific cognitive dispositions that augment and enhance their ability to effectively utilize and extend their content knowledge. We have identified four main constructs (multiple perspectives, metacognition, goals and beliefs, and epistemology) which form the foundation of adaptive expertise. We report on a survey developed to measure these qualities of adaptiveness in three target engineering populations (freshmen, senior, and faculty). We also present preliminary interview data conducted in conjunction with the survey to provide insight as to how this adaptiveness is manifest in undergraduate engineering students.