Teaching Engineering Creativity, Spatial Skills, and Sketching with the Spatial Vis Sketching Software
In teaching hands-on design for over 20 years, a few themes have emerged. Creativity is increased when students are empowered with fundamental skills, such as sketching their own design ideas. This in turn can lead to increased spatial visualization skills, CAD proficiency, and retention rates in STEM.
This presentation covers:
– How to increase creativity with design projects
– Research on spatial visualization’s role in STEM
– How to structure team projects to promote individual contribution
– How to develop spatial skills in an engaging fashion
– Hands-on workshop using the Spatial Vis software
Nathan Delson
About them: Nathan (Nate) Delson, Ph.D. is a teaching professor in Mechanical Engineering at the UC San Diego and Co-founder of eGrove Education. He is the founding faculty director for the EnVision Maker Space at UCSD. He teaches introductory design, mechanics, mechatronics, capstone design, medical devices, and product design & entrepreneurship. His interests in design education include increasing student motivation, teamwork, hands-on projects, and integration of theory into design projects.