A Comparative Analysis of Cognitive Engagement Through Embedding Design-Based Learning in Fluid Mechanics

Abstract Fluid mechanics is an early mechanical engineering course where abstract concepts gain physical, applicable meaning. It is therefore a prime venue to teach higher-order engineering skills—problem definition, modeling, and solution analysis—needed for the ill-structured, open-ended problems engineers face in practice. These skills are primarily taught in design courses which account for only 20% of the curriculum. Thus, design thinking and pedagogy are needed in core engineering courses taught throughout the degree. This study evaluates the impact of an authentic learning assignment, titled design your own problem (DYOP), on students' higher-order thinking in a fluid mechanics course. Using Bloom's Taxonomy to gauge cognitive engagement, we conducted content analysis of students' cognitive reflections on typical engineering assessments (quizzes) and the DYOP. Results show a significant increase in higher-order cognitive skills during completion of DYOP compared with quizzes. This heightened engagement features greater analysis, evaluation, and creativity, indicating a shift toward more sophisticated problem-solving and metacognitive awareness among students. This pattern was consistent across diverse student cohorts, irrespective of gender, racial, or ethnic background, prior internship experience, or initial performance on quizzes. These findings present a simple, scalable, and effective method for incorporating higher-order cognitive skills into core courses within the engineering curriculum, thereby providing additional avenues of design-type training prior to students enrolling in design-focused courses such as senior design or capstone. Embedding authentic, open-ended tasks alongside traditional problems cultivates the modeling fluency, judgment, and analysis essential for engineering practice.