Characterizing computational adaptive expertise

Our research is exploring the role that computational and analytical abilities play in innovation, in the context of engineering design education. We are applying the learning framework of adaptive expertise to focus our work and guide the research. The model of adaptive expertise has been presented as a way of thinking about how to prepare learners to flexibly respond to new learning situations, which is precisely what students are expected to do in the context of developing design solutions. We focus on "computational adaptive expertise," which we abbreviate CADEX, since a major portion of an engineering curriculum focuses on developing analytical and computational knowledge. Yet, students often struggle with applying or transferring computational knowledge in the context of design. The current paper presents an overview of adaptive expertise and relates this concept specifically to engineering design education. In addition, the paper presents an overview of the research plan we are presently using to study CADEX in the context of a senior level biomedical engineering design course.