Investigating engineering design tasks – iterative testing in large-scale engineering courses

In this research a study environment is presented that enables iterative design in large engineering lectures and show possibilities for investigations at two example lectures from German universities. The initial results show that it is possible for large lecture-hall-based courses to engage in in-depth tasks of engineering design. Design researchers can use the generated data to measure infuences, e.g. the applied methods on specifc design tasks. Two key insights include the potential for large courses to serve as large-scale research environments for design research and the observed effects of infuences on students’ decision-making processes. This approach offers a promising method to further explore the complexities of decision infuences and design optimization in educational settings.