Ambiguity in Engineering Problem Solving, Elliot Douglas, UF

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How do problem solvers approach ambiguous problems? That is the central question driving our research. Ambiguity has been approached in multiple ways, depending on the field of study: in terms of personal tolerance to ambiguity, multiple meanings, complexity, and indeterminancy. Surprisingly, our work appears to be the first within the field of problem solving itself to define ambiguity, even though it is a key aspect of understanding and successfully solving engineering problems. The lack of a clear definition has hampered efforts to better understand approaches to ill-structured problem solving. In this seminar I will review our work on problem solving. Our early work used a think aloud protocol in which engineering students spoke aloud while solving problems. That work identified the different ways that students approach problems. We then undertook an investigation of ambiguity using artifact elicitation, in which both students and practicing engineers were interviewed about problems they found to be ambiguous. The resulting framework for ambiguity consists of six categories: technical, discourse, inter-personal, intra-personal, non-technical, and instructional ambiguity. Each of these categories captures a different element of ambiguity that may be present in a problem. Importantly, ambiguity is a function of both the problem statement and the way that the problem solver approaches it, which we refer to as “ambiguity as experience.”

Elliot P. Douglas, Ph.D., F.ASEE, is Department Head and Professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences and Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Florida. His research focuses on engineering problem solving and engineering ethics education. He has also published and conducted workshops on qualitative research methods. He is currently the American Society for Engineering Education Vice President for Finance for which he serves on the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and the Compensation Committee, and chairs the Finance Committee. He has also served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Engineering Education and program officer for engineering education at the U.S. National Science Foundation.