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2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Enhancing Engineering Students’ Critical Thinking and Creativity through Prototype - Based and Social Media-Integrated Learning

Presented at Engineering Management Division (EMD) Technical Session

The twenty-first century skills refer to twelve essential abilities that students must develop to succeed in today’s fast-changing, technology-driven world. These include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills that enable learners to think deeply, generate new ideas, work effectively in teams, and express their thoughts clearly.

But the traditional teaching approach may hinder the development of critical thinking, problem solving, and creative thinking skills that are vital in daily life. Because the traditional teaching is emphasising chalk and talk, rote learning, memorisation and standardised testing. Furthermore, students may get disinterested and unmotivated in their studies as a result of the repetitive and rigid nature of traditional teaching methods.

To address this issue, this research work focused on Prototype-driven learning method. This research work examined the effectiveness of this prototype-driven learning model in developing critical thinking, problem solving, and creative self-efficacy skills of the engineering students. Limited studies have examined its application in engineering and polytechnic education, especially within India. This research bridges that gap by exploring how combining prototype-driven learning with interactive social media environments can foster deeper engagement and skill development among students. First year subject Engineering Mechanics had been taken for the research work. A quantitative pre-post-test design method was used to collect data over a four months period from 54 first year engineering students.

Findings revealed that the prototype learning model significantly improved critical thinking and creative self-efficacy, while the use of social media for information sharing, collaboration, and academic problem-solving further strengthened students’ metacognitive. The study highlights that structured prototype learning model experiences, supported by purposeful social media interaction, can serve as an effective pedagogical approach for developing essential twenty-first-century skills among engineering learners.

Authors
  1. Dr. Dinesh Kumar KSA Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6585-1389 National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai [biography]
  2. Dr. Janardhanan Gangathulasi Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4443-6677 National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research Chennai [biography]
  4. Dr. Malliga P Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3098-5632 National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chennai [biography]
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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