Mindfulness & engineering : a pathway to divergent thinking and innovation
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The current paradigm in engineering education promotes linear, convergent thinking focused on gaining technical knowledge. Although convergent thinking is important in engineering, divergent thinking is critical to considering the context in which engineering design problems are situated and to generating innovative ideas to address those problems. This is especially true in today's professional engineering workplace where, more and more often, we are tackling engineering problems from a broader perspective in larger, more interdisciplinary teams. Engineering work requires divergent thinking skills that are not emphasized in most engineering programs. To this end, there is a growing body of research showing that a fundamental human capacity, mindfulness, fosters divergent thinking, and that mindfulness can be cultivated through practice. Mindfulness is defined as intentionally paying attention with openness, curiosity and discernment. Although psychologists continue to explore the exact mechanisms by which mindfulness facilitates divergent thinking, there is convincing evidence that there is a causal link between a mindfulness and divergent thinking ability. In the present work, I develop a conceptual framework connecting mindfulness, divergent thinking, and innovation to explore three outcomes: does mindfulness predict (1) divergent thinking in an ideation task (2) divergent thinking in an engineering problem scoping task, and (3) one's confidence in his/her ability to be innovative. This dissertation covers the methods and findings designed to answer these questions and concludes with discussion of the results and recommendations for application of this research to engineering education and engineering practice.
Description
| Alternative title | Mindfulness and engineering |
|---|---|
| Type of resource | text |
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2017 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Rieken, Elizabeth |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Primary advisor | Sheppard, S. (Sheri) |
| Thesis advisor | Sheppard, S. (Sheri) |
| Thesis advisor | Borko, Hilda |
| Thesis advisor | Gilmartin, Shannon K |
| Advisor | Borko, Hilda |
| Advisor | Gilmartin, Shannon K |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Elizabeth Rieken. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2017. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2017 by Elizabeth Frances Rieken
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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