2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Exploring the Impact of Contextual Framing and Construct-Level Complexity on Engineering Problem-Solving Performance: A Study on Electrical Circuit Course

Presented at Student Division (STDT) Technical Session 5

Active Learning, Problem-solving and Designing are core competencies in engineering education and serve as the foundation for engineering students’ skills development. To effectively cultivate these skills, instructional strategies and learning materials must be carefully designed, particularly in the formulation and the presentation of problem statements that promote active learning.
This study investigates the impact of contextual framing, defined as the situational context in which a problem is embedded, and the construct-level complexity, which refers to the number of steps or components required to solve a problem, on students’ performance during engineering problem-solving activities. This study is conducted in the context of fundamentals of electrical circuits. The analysis encompasses 363 problem-solving samples drawn from four distinct problems administered in a "Fundamental Electronics for Engineers" course at a research-intensive university in the western part of the United States.
Each problem-solving event was qualitatively evaluated by two independent researchers using the Docktor et al. (2016) rubric. The resulting assessments were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially to determine the statistical significance of the impact of contextual framing and construct-level complexity in the problem-solving performance. Further inferential analyses explore engineering approaches and their specific applications. The findings from this study help engineering educators inferring that gradual and sequential increases in both contextual framing and construct-level complexity may be positively associated with improved students’ performance. In contrast, abrupt or simultaneous increase in these dimensions is associated with reduced performance, likely due to increased cognitive load.
The outcomes of this study align with constructivist learning theory, which posits that learners construct knowledge more effectively when they can derive meaning from their experiences. Incremental complexity facilitates this constructivist process by enabling students to internalize concepts progressively. Additionally, the study also assists us cultivate an engineering learning environment as suggested in Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset (2007), by making students repeatedly successful in increasingly challenging tasks to foster motivation, resilience, and a constructive attitude toward problem-solving. Overall, this study advocates for the intentional sequencing of problem difficulty and contextual framing as a means to cultivate robust problem-solving skills and improve overall learning outcomes in engineering education context.

Authors

Mr. Rifatul Islam Himel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0415-4774 Utah State University [biography]

Rifatul Islam Himel is a doctoral candidate in Engineering Education at Utah State University (USU), Logan, Utah, US. His doctoral research focuses on understanding human cognition in engineering problem-solving. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a Master's degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. With over six years of professional experience in the Information Technology industry and a strong background in teaching and research, Rifatul brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to his work. His research interests include Human and Machine Cognition, Applied Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Education, Information Processing, and the study of Consciousness.
Dr. Oenardi Lawanto Utah State University [biography]

Dr. Oenardi Lawanto is a professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University, USA. He received his B.S.E.E. from Iowa State University, his M.S.E.E. from the University of Dayton, and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Lawanto has a combination of expertise in engineering and education and has more than 30 and 14 years of experience teaching engineering and cognitive-related topics courses for his doctoral students, respectively. He also has extensive experience in working collaboratively with several universities in Asia, the World Bank Institute, and USAID to design and conduct workshops promoting active-learning and life-long learning that is sustainable and scalable. Dr. Lawanto’s research interests include cognition, learning, and instruction, and online learning.
Dr. Yashin Brijmohan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2485-9808 Utah State University [biography]

Yashin Brijmohan is a registered professional engineer who is currently appointed as Chairman of Engineering Education Standing Technical Committee of the Federation of African Engineering Organizations, Executive committee member of the Commonwealth Engineers Council, Board Member of the UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education, and Co-Chair of the Africa Asia Pacific Engineering Council.

He was the founding Executve Dean of Business, Engineering and Technology at Monash South Africa, former Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, and led several committees in the engineering profession.

Yashin has both leadership and specialist experience within the engineering power industry and education sectors and is known for his thought leadership in capacity building and engineering education.
Dr. Wade H Goodridge http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5811-7629 Utah State University [biography]

Wade Goodridge is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University. His research often has a focus on what drives us to learn, how we learn and how well we do it, and what can improve that learning. This work is often directed with a spatial thinking emphasis. Dr. Goodridge has investigated different learning modalities (fully online, hybrid, blended courses), cognitive and metacognitive learning processes (self-regulation, engineering problems solving, neural efficiency in engineering problem solving) learning motivators (engineering self-efficacy), and effective and personalized engineering education interventions (tactile engineering curriculum, physical teaching models, XR environments and AI informed systems of delivering and monitoring engineering learning). Dr. Goodridge has created a valid and reliable instrument to assess spatial ability in blind and low vision (BLV) learners thus opening new areas of research centered on tactile spatial ability. He has created tactile and visual learning tools and has offered professional development experiences on how to improve the education of tomorrows engineers.
Mr. Foeday Zinnah http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6633-9590 Utah State University [biography]

Foeday Zinnah is a graduate researcher and a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Engineering Education at Utah State University. He holds a master’s degree in soil and water sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Liberia. His research interests focus on engineering workforce development, particularly the role of non-degree credentials and work-based learning in shaping STEM career pathways. He is also interested in e-learning management and the use of diverse learning methods to enhance learning outcomes for both traditional and non-traditional learners. Additionally, Foeday brings professional experience in youth and community development, nonprofit leadership, and online learning management in higher education.
Dr. Zain ul Abideen Utah State University [biography]

Zain ul Abideen holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Utah State University, where he also served as a Graduate Researcher. He is a computer engineer and earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and master’s degree in engineering, and brings over a decade of experience in teaching and research with undergraduate engineering students. He actively contributes to several technical committees and serves as a reviewer for leading journals and international conferences. His doctoral research focused on cognitive engagement, AI in education and engineering design, self-regulated learning, and mobile learning. His work seeks to deepen our understanding of how these elements influence learning and success in engineering education. With a strong commitment to educational advancement and a robust academic background, Zain is recognized as a dedicated and emerging scholar in the field of engineering education.
Sehrish Jabeen Utah State University [biography]

Sehrish Jabeen is currently a Ph.D. student and Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant. She brings over three years of teaching experience across K–16 educational settings, along with seven years of professional experience in the field of information technology, where she worked in the banking sector. Her research interests include mathematical well-being, mathematical modeling and problem-solving, and the application of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) in mathematics education. Through her work, Sehrish aims to explore how instructional practices and learning environments can support students' mathematical thinking and students engagement with mathematics.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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