2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Sketchtivity project explores the teaching of freehand sketching using an intelligent tutoring software in engineering design education through providing individualized feedback on sketching fundamentals and 2-point perspective techniques. Project findings indicate that Sketchtivity enhances spatial visualization skills, creativity, and student confidence, with measurable improvements observed in as little as 3-5 weeks across 4 university implementations. The research has raised further questions regarding the specific sketching knowledge and skills engineers need to learn to optimize visual communication and engineering education. One study aims to begin to address these questions by investigating the role of sketch styles in influencing engineer preferences and perceptions of creativity and functionality in sketched product ideas. This study and future research on sketching instruction will use surveys to evaluate perceived characteristics including preferences, highlighting the importance of examining the distinctions between ranking and rating scales as tools for assessing these perceptions.
A comparative study was conducted across two graduate level mechanical engineering courses to assess the validity of rating versus ranking scale methods in evaluating sketch preferences. Participants evaluated 10 products across 3 categories (spacecrafts, chairs, and toasters) presented in varying line styles including single line, variable thickness, feathered and heavily feathered line work. One course completed a ranking based survey while the other completed a rating-based survey. The analysis compared the two data sets to determine whether ranking or rating scales better capture aggregate preferences in design sketch assessments. The results indicate that ranking and rating scales reveal similar mean preferences, with a clear favorability towards the single line style especially for more complex engineering products indicating that the clean, single line style typically seen in industrial design should be taught to engineers. Ranking scales demonstrated greater differentiation between sketch styles, while rating scales showed more compressed responses, with participants often assigning equivalent scores to multiple sketches. The study suggests that while both methods are valid for engineering design education contexts, ratings may be more suitable when finer distinctions between preferences are sought, whereas ranking is more effective for gauging general trends. This work informs best practices in survey design for engineering education research and for future work, emphasizing the importance of selecting scale types based on study objectives. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of how sketching styles influence engineering design perception and provide insights into instructional strategies for developing effective sketching skills among engineering students.