2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This essay proposes how can design fixation in engineering education be observed qualitatively during the design process. Design fixation impacts the students’ ability to generate novel ideas, and it can manifest as an unconscious adherence to prior solutions or a conscious decision to resist alternative solutions. Using experimental variables from previous quantitative studies, we establish preliminary qualitative codes for identifying fixation within student discussions and design artifacts. These codes include verbal response behavior, a limited number of ideas, a limited exploration of solution space, the repetition of initial concept features, and the use of self-generated default designs. The goal of is to determine how these codes appear in student work and provide a method to identify fixation as it happens, which could allow for effective interventions. The results of this research can potentially inform teaching practices and help students develop more flexible and creative design thinking.