Work in Progress: Expert Feedback on Sketching Self-Efficacy Development

Donna Jaison, Hillary E. Merzdorf, Karan L. Watson, Tracy Hammond

Abstract: This is a WIP progress paper belongs to innovative practice section. According to Bandura, self-efficacy refers to “beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments.” Self-efficacy plays an essential role in skill development and engineering education. Sketching is a critical skill for engineering students, and it has various benefits, especially in developing spatial visualization skills. Sketching enables students to effectively communicate graphically, represent ideas, and brainstorm ideas, especially in the early design stages. No formal research has been conducted concerning the role of self-efficacy in learning to sketch. An instrument that measures sketching self-efficacy is beneficial for gaining insight into the levels of sketching self-efficacy of engineering students. A sketching self-efficacy instrument was developed for high school students, however it needs revision and validation for use in undergraduate engineering classrooms. This work-in-progress study aims to revise the sketching self-efficacy survey instrument items based on expert feedback to ensure the validity of the instrument's content. We have gathered feedback from nine engineering instructors from various disciplines who are experts in sketching on the items of the current sketching self-efficacy instrument. Our research question is: In what areas do engineering students need to develop self-efficacy in sketching according to engineering instructors, and how do these areas vary across mechanical and industrial engineering disciplines? We conducted five interviews virtually and semi-structured through the Zoom platform. The interview transcripts were anonymized, cleaned, and loaded into qualitative data analysis software, MAXQDA. Qualitative contnet analysis was utilized to analyze the interview data. Based on the interview analysis results, we will discuss the recommended changes to the sketching self-efficacy instrument. Our final study will include psychometric analysis, such as exploratory Factor analysis and Confirmatory factor analysis, to test the instrument's validity for college students.