Characterizing the mentoring process for developing effective design engineers

Several instructional frameworks suggest using a coaching model as a pedagogical approach for open-ended types of academic tasks. These frameworks provide a theoretical foundation for a coaching teaching approach but often do not provide specifics on how to effectively enact a coaching pedagogy in particular academic settings. The current study explores the specifics of the coaching process in the context of mentoring engineering student design teams. The current study provides insight into the types of roadblocks design teams face and how our teaching strategies can help teams overcome these challenges. By aligning our teaching and coaching strategies with the actual learning and project needs of student design teams we are better positioned to produce effective, future design engineers.