Abstract
Critical thinking ability based on a sound sense of logic is essential for analyzing a given engineering design problem and assessing it to arrive at the most plausible conclusion. Engineering design classes require students to organize their engineering design experiences through reports, and engineering design reports require detailed specifications of their tasks at each stage. Given the nature of these curriculums, design classes provide writing courses focusing on science and engineering within specialized fields, but there still lies many obstacles for communication education that embraces both general education and major subjects. This study proposes a specified step-by-step writing model for engineering design reports that encompasses critical thinking for the objective of systemizing design experiences from engineering design report writing. For the purpose of the study, the concepts and relationship between critical thinking and creative problem solving have been examined, followed by a proposal of application methods for critical thinking criteria and elements from a case example on engineering design. Furthermore, the study proposes a critical thinking-based assessment rubric for logical decision making at each stage of engineering design as well as a resulting model for engineering design report writing.
