Script of questions:
List of Questions used during the focus group interviews
1. Describe the process of problem solving.
2. How did you come up with your problem definition? 3. Describe how you gathered your three research topics. 4. Describe how you chose your 25 design ideas.
5. Describe how the teacher’s feedback on the in-class assignments affected your overall design.
6. Describe how the professor's feedback on the in-class assignments affected your overall design.
7. Describe how you produced your design sketches.
8. Describe how you concluded your design solution based on the proposed alternatives.
9. What are the factors that you think had the most impact on the improvement on the design?
10. What kind of written skills were used through the semester? 11. Describe your confidence in generating ideas for your design through this course.
12. Describe how working in a team influenced your performance on the design project.
13. Describe your skills in working with a team throughout the semester.
14. Considering the fact that some of your team members chose to hardly participate in most team discussion, what factors you think have caused their lack of participation?
APPENDIX D
Student questionnaire:
1. When you were given the team design problem at the beginning of the semester, a) Did you prefer to think individually about the problem first, before
exchanging information about your teammates?
b) Did you prefer listening to your teammates before thinking about the
problem on your own?
c) Did you prefer to ask the team leader about his opinion first before
thinking about the design problem?
d) Did you prefer to divide tasks among team members right away? e) It depends: Explain………
2. If you were given a team design problem either in your professional life or in an
upper college level class would you:
a) Think about the problem individually first, before listening to your team
members?
b) Did you prefer listening to your teammates before thinking about the
problem on your own?
c) Did you prefer to ask the team leader about his opinion first before
thinking about the design problem?
d) Did you prefer to divide tasks among team members right away? e) It depends: Explain………
3. How did you find your design alternatives? a) By listening to other peers
b) By using electronic/paper resources c) By discussing with the group leader d) By asking the professor
4. Did you method change after you took the course?
5. How did you used to organize your thoughts prior to taking this course? a) By using diagrams
b) By using different planning tools to justify the logic of your choices,
then sharing your findings with your teammates and project leader
c) By using other methods: Explain………..
6. How do you organize your thoughts now after your took this course? a) By using diagrams
b) By using different planning tools to justify the logic of your choices,
then sharing your findings with your teammates and project leader
c) By using other methods: Explain………..
7. Are you familiar with any creative thinking technique that can help you organize
your thoughts? Examples include brain writing, brainstorming, check listing and SCAMPER? Specify………
8. How do you assess your solutions? a) By comparing it to the goals?
c) Based on other teammates or team leader strong views, whether they
support the idea or not
d) Other factors-Explain………. 9. Did you method change after you took this course?
10. How often would you use online educational tools to learn material in any of your
classes?
a) Very often b) Often c) Never
11. Describe the level of your confidence in generating ideas to solve a design
problem prior to taking this course:
a) Very confident b) Confident c) Not confident
12. Describe the level of your confidence in generating ideas to solve a design
problem in the future:
a) Very confident b) Confident c) Not confident
13. When you were given several alternatives to solve your design problem, how
confident were you when asked to pick a single alternative at the beginning of the semester?
a) Very confident b) Confident c) Not confident
14. If we give you several alternatives to solve a design problem in the future, how
confident would you be if asked to pick a single alternative?
a) Very confident b) Confident c) Not confident
15. How comfortable were you working with other classmates at the beginning of the
semester?
16. How comfortable are you now working with other classmates?
a) Very comfortable b) Comfortable c) Not comfortable
17. Describe the level of your confidence in generating ideas to solve a design
problem prior to taking this course:
a) Very comfortable b) Comfortable c) Not comfortable
18. How comfortable were you asking questions to your senior leader or professor at
the beginning of the semester?
a) Very comfortable b) Comfortable c) Not comfortable
19. Do you feel more productive when ___?
a) Working in a team b) Working individually
20. Did you feel the same way before you took this course? (Refer to question 11) 21. How good were you in communicating your results while you were given
presentations before taking the course?
a) Very good b) Good c) Ok d) Not good
22. How good are you in communicating your results while you are given
presentations now that you completed this course?
a) Very good b) Good c) Ok d) Not good
23. How good were you in communicating your results when writing a report before
taking the course?
a) Very good b) Good c) Ok d) Not good
24. How good are you in communicating your results when writing a report after
completing the course?
APPENDIX E