Engineering Graphics Concepts: A Delphi Study

Abstract Engineering Graphics Concepts: A Delphi StudyThe Delphi technique is a consensus building, forecasting technique conducted via mail or Internetwith a selected panel of experts and in 2010 the authors were awarded an NSF grant to conduct aDelphi study to define the fundamental concepts of Engineering Graphics. The concepts determinedthrough this study will be used to develop an Engineering Graphics Concept Inventory. A conceptinventory is an instrument that can help faculty identify the concepts that their students do notunderstand and decide which misconceptions are the most prevalent. It can be used to help defineimportant fundamental topics for instruction and learningThe Delphi technique typically encourages panellists to include comments as they make their ratingsresulting in a rich written conversation about choices made, possible options, and changes that mightbe made in future rounds. The conversation, which is shared with all the participants, can help shapedecisions made by other participants.This paper will focus on the quantitative and qualitative results of the engineering graphics Delphistudy that included graphic experts from universities, community colleges, high schools, and industry.Initial brainstorming activities resulted in 80 graphic topics that were rated by the expert panel in thefirst of three rounds. Successive rounds further defined the concepts that were considered critical forthe discipline of engineering graphics. After three rounds, ten major graphic concepts with 37 aspectswithin those major concepts were identified. These concepts will be used to develop an EngineeringGraphics Concept Inventory, with a focus on concepts that are difficult for students to fullycomprehend. As a final step, the engineering graphics community was surveyed to determine whichof the candidate concepts should be included in the Concept Inventory. Results from this survey willalso be presented in this paper.