Unfolding learning difficulties in engineering drawing problem solving

ABSTRACT For several engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, mechanical engineering, architectural engineering, and others, engineering drawing (ED) is a mandatory subject. Problem solving in engineering drawing requires a complex integration of knowledge and spatial abilities. However, students don’t automatically learn these problem solving skills within the standard engineering curriculum. Identification of learning difficulties is a primary step in designing teaching-learning aids for students and teachers. While some learning challenges have been reported, there are fewer studies on identifying learning difficulties in solving these from the students’ and teachers’ perspectives. In this paper, we investigate the students’ difficulties in solving the engineering drawing problems. Here we present qualitative studies focusing on students’ learning difficulties in different engineering problem solving contexts, including data collected from five cohorts of novice learners, advanced learners, and ED teachers. The qualitative analysis of the data resulted in identifying the difficulties that students have while performing ED problem solving tasks. The identified difficulties were mainly related to knowledge deficits and challenges in performing higher order cognitive tasks. Data analysis helps to elaborate on these difficulties and discuss the relationships among them. We also discuss the implications of our results on teaching-learning of ED problem solving.