2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering design challenges have increased in complexity over time, yet the ways in which educators present these problems to students have remained largely unchanged. Traditional engineering design problem statements are often text-based and ill-defined, but they may not fully capture the cognitive complexity that real design situations demand. Recent studies in engineering education have begun to examine how different forms of problem representation influence how students interpret and develop design solutions. However, there is still a limited understanding of how these representations affect students’ cognitive engagement and motivation during design. This literature review synthesizes studies from design cognition, design-based learning, and neurocognitive research, drawing from a broad range of work across engineering education literature. The literature review will also identify how visual or structural cues within a design problem statement can either support or restrict student reasoning. Emerging neurophysiological approaches, such as EEG and eye-tracking, provide novel insight into how students allocate attention and manage cognitive load while solving design problems. The PRISMA approach was utilized as a structured process to identify keywords related to engineering design problem representation and its impact on neurocognitive effects, which were reviewed both quantitatively and qualitatively. This literature review synthesizes studies from design cognition, design-based learning, and neurocognitive research, drawing from a broad range of work across engineering education literature. The literature review will also identify how visual or structural cues within a design problem statement can either support or restrict student reasoning. Emerging neurophysiological approaches, such as EEG and eye-tracking, provide novel insight into how students allocate attention and manage cognitive load while solving design problems.