Leahy, K,Phillips, D,Debartolo, E,Brackin, P,Chenoweth, S,White, A

2017

January

International Journal Of Engineering Education

Encouraging Creativity in Capstone Design

Published

()

creativity convergent thinking divergent thinking concept generation idea fixation PRODUCT DESIGN HEURISTICS EXPERT GENERATION FIXATION

33

1468

1484

Capstone design is the "bridge'' from school to industry. It is important that this engineering experience is rich in the creative approaches which are valued there. In particular, the capstone class should model the need for exploring divergent solution paths, for listening to alternative opinions, and for stepping back from a problem. Skills in these creative areas typically are not emphasized in the rest of an engineering curriculum. At the 2016 Capstone Design Conference, we participated in a panel on "Encouraging Creativity in Capstone Design.'' The ideas presented were based on our own experiences in using creativity techniques in design classes. This paper shifts down to the roots of those discussions, describing our individual efforts in applying those creativity techniques. We conclude with a list of situational options, for other practitioners to use in their design classes.