Avoiding the potential negative influence of CAD tools on the formation of students’ creativity

This paper examines the effects of the use of CAD tools on the development of students’ creativity in the context of design education. The basis for the analysis are the results from an industry study that identified four ways in which the use of electronic design tools impacts on the creative design process in practice. The mechanisms are described as enhanced visualisation, circumscribed thinking, premature fixation and bounded ideation. Using the concept of Accidental Competency formation these four mechanisms are examined in the educational context. Accidental Competency formation allows a holistic view on the educational process to examine how factors from the broader learning environment combine with the active teaching of design and have longterm effects on the formation of students’ creative abilities. These effects are analysed by means of illustrative examples that were obtained in focus groups with engineering students using critical incident techniques. The paper concludes with recommendations for design education to foster positive effects of accidental learning and equally avoid negative consequences for the development of creative design competence in engineering students.