Problem-solving is one of the most important skills to develop in today's globally competitive workforce and remains an essential aspect to a diversity of professions and disciplines. Building on the rich literature found on problem-solving, this paper reports on the implementation of a curriculum that applies known strategies and heuristics to develop broadly applicable problem-solving skills in high school students. The curriculum covers existing problem identification and solution development tools including Izakawa fishbone diagrams, Duncker diagrams, statement restatement, vertical thinking, cross fertilization, Kepner-Tregoe analysis, and more. Our pedagogical approach blends active learning frameworks (hands-on projects, case studies, exercises) with self-regulated learning environments (via scaffolding, metacognition). We have successfully deployed the full curriculum in eleven classrooms across five high schools. Students apply their problem-solving abilities through hands-on projects embedded throughout the curriculum. Results from 254 student surveys showed interest and engagement with the course content. Overall, this paper provides a skills-focused approach to outreach, preparation, and participation of students towards engineering and technical fields with the goal of meeting the skill requirements and labor demands of the global workforce.

This paper presents an innovative approach to improve engineering students’ problem-solving skills by implementing think-aloud exercises. Sometimes engineering students claim they do not know where to start with the problem-solving process, or they are not sure how to proceed to the next steps when they get stuck. A systematic training that focuses on the problem-solving process and the justification of each step could help. Think-aloud techniques help make the invisible mental processes visible to learners. Engineering think-aloud technique engages students and helps them make their way through a solving process step-by-step, reasoning along with them. In this study, a multiple faceted systematic approach that integrates think-aloud exercises through video assignments and oral exams were developed and implemented in two pilot engineering classes. We present our think-aloud exercises and oral exams structures in each of the courses and their impacts on students' learning outcomes, and students’ perceptions towards the pedagogical approach. Both quantitative and qualitative results show that the think-aloud exercise assignments and oral exams enhance students’ problem-solving skills and promote learning.

This work-in-progress paper presents an innovative practice of using oral exams to maintain academic integrity and promote student engagement in large-enrollment engineering courses during remote instruction. With the abrupt and widespread transition to distance learning and assessment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a registered upsurge in academic integrity violations globally. To address the challenge of compromised integrity, in the winter quarter of 2021 we have implemented oral exams across six mostly high-enrollment mechanical and electrical engineering undergraduate courses. We present our oral exam design parameters in each of the courses and discuss how oral exams relate to academic integrity, student engagement, stress, and implicit bias. We also address the challenge of scalability, as most of our oral exams were implemented in large classes, where academic integrity and student-instructor disconnection have generally gotten disproportionately worse during remote learning. Our survey results indicate that oral exams have positively contributed to academic integrity in our courses. Based on our preliminary study and experiences, we expect oral exams can be effectively leveraged to hinder cheating and foster academic honesty in students, even when in-person instruction and assessment resumes.