Compound Problem Solving: Workplace Lessons for Engineering Education

For practitioners and researchers who incorporate real-world problems into their teaching, it is essential to understand real-world problem solving and the nature of problems for better design of the instruction.Several models exist that address the categorization of problems.David Jonassen's design theory of problem solving describes eleven different problem-types mapped on a four-dimensional scale.Real world problems are more likely to be compound problems meaning they contain a variety of different problem types.This paper describes the findings of two studies, (a) a single-case study of a steel engineer and (b) a multi-case study comparing the findings to 90 problem-solving narratives of other engineers.Both studies are located in an US-American context.Results confirm that real-world problems are intertwined problems (compound problems) and that transitions from one problem type to another within a compound problem are a unique class of problems themselves.These 'transition problems' have properties, which are not represented in other problem types, and therefore extend the design theory.