Abstract
Designers intentionally influence events and outcomes, making an internal locus of control (LOC) desirable for them to have. Recently, engineering programs have provided more opportunities for design in their undergraduate programs than in the past, but these do not attend to learners’ LOC. Because undergraduate learners with a high external LOC can enter these programs, it makes sense to attempt instructional interventions that could help these learners to internalize their LOC. Here, an intervention for internalizing LOC was piloted using a design task in an undergraduate engineering design studio. This was an innovative application of educational psychology constructs to engineering design education, previously two mutually exclusive domains. Although the study was small in size, measures showed a consistent trend: subjects with an external LOC prior to the design task shifted toward an internal LOC, while subjects with an internal LOC prior to treatment retained an internal LOC.
Keywords
Attribution, collaboration, design study, beliefs, classroom research, internal locus of control, external locus of control
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.029
Citation
Cox, C.,and Fischl, G.(2013) Undergraduate Design Studio Task to Internalize Learner Locus of Control, in Reitan, J.B., Lloyd, P., Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Digranes, I., & Lutnæs, E. (eds.), DRS // Cumulus: Design Learning for Tomorrow, 14-17 May, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.029
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Undergraduate Design Studio Task to Internalize Learner Locus of Control
Designers intentionally influence events and outcomes, making an internal locus of control (LOC) desirable for them to have. Recently, engineering programs have provided more opportunities for design in their undergraduate programs than in the past, but these do not attend to learners’ LOC. Because undergraduate learners with a high external LOC can enter these programs, it makes sense to attempt instructional interventions that could help these learners to internalize their LOC. Here, an intervention for internalizing LOC was piloted using a design task in an undergraduate engineering design studio. This was an innovative application of educational psychology constructs to engineering design education, previously two mutually exclusive domains. Although the study was small in size, measures showed a consistent trend: subjects with an external LOC prior to the design task shifted toward an internal LOC, while subjects with an internal LOC prior to treatment retained an internal LOC.