2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Intersection of Mindfulness and Hand Sketching: Developing Problem-Solving Skills in Engineering Students

Presented at Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES) Technical Session 7: Interdisciplinarity

This literature review examines the potential integration of mindfulness practices and hand sketching into engineering education to enhance problem-solving skills. Engineering students face intense academic demands, often leaving little time for activities that support mental health and creativity. While mindfulness and sketching have been individually studied for their benefits in reducing stress, improving focus, and fostering creativity, limited research has explored their combined application in engineering education. This review synthesizes existing literature on these practices' cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal benefits, offering insights into how they may collectively address gaps in traditional engineering curricula.
Mindfulness practices such as mindful breathing, observation, and reflection promote emotional regulation, sustained focus, and resilience under pressure. Concurrently, hand sketching facilitates spatial visualization, creative exploration, and effective communication, making it a valuable tool in problem-solving contexts. These practices offer a synergistic approach by fostering clarity and creativity, helping students navigate complex engineering challenges with greater cognitive flexibility and emotional stability.
The paper explores the theoretical frameworks of their benefits and identifies potential challenges, such as students’ resistance to nontraditional methods and the need for faculty training. By presenting a comprehensive analysis of the existing evidence, this review advocates for an approach to engineering education that prepares students to meet the technical and interpersonal demands of modern professional environments.

Authors

Vanessa Tran Utah State University [biography]

Vanessa Tran holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Architecture and a Master’s in Global Production Engineering and Management from the Vietnamese-German University, Vietnam. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Engineering Education at the College of Engineering, Utah State University. Her research focuses on promoting mental health and fostering creativity in engineering education to help students succeed academically and personally.
Dr. Cassandra McCall http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-0240-432X Utah State University [biography]

Dr. Cassandra McCall is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Education Department at Utah State University (USU). Her research focuses on the intersections of disability, identity formation, and culture and uses anti-ableist approaches to enhance universal access for students with disabilities in STEM, particularly in engineering. At USU, she serves as the Co-Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Transition Services. In 2024, Dr. McCall received a National Science Foundation CAREER grant to identify systemic opportunities for increasing the participation of people with disabilities in engineering. Her award-winning publications have been recognized by leading engineering education research journals at both national and international levels. Dr. McCall has led several workshops promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities and other minoritized groups in STEM. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering with a structural engineering emphasis.
Maimuna Begum Kali http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-1770-7363 Florida International University [biography]

Maimuna Begum Kali is a Ph.D. candidate in the Engineering and Computing Education program at the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED) at Florida International University (FIU). She earned her B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Kali's research interests center on exploring the experiences of marginalized engineering students, with a particular focus on their hidden identity, mental health, and wellbeing. Her work aims to enhance inclusivity and diversity in engineering education, contributing to the larger body of research in the field.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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