A case of conceptualisation: using a grounded theory approach to further explore how professionals define engineering judgement for use in engineering education

Figures & data

Figure 1. Vignette used as a snapshot for initial interviews with research participants (image adapted from Cartoon Stock).

Table 1. Logistical details of participants including background and level of experience.

Pseudonym denoted	Gender F/M/other	Ethnicity	Industry	Years of professional experience	Level of experience
Khloe	F	British Caucasian	Consultancy	< 3	Recent graduate with considerable amount of work experience. Graduated with 1st class honours, employed as graduate management consultant.
Benedict	M	British Caucasian	Engineering research	< 3	Recent graduate with considerable amount of work experience. Graduated with 1st class honours, working in postgraduate position.
Cecile	F	French Caucasian	Pharmaceuticals	Between 20–25	Professor whose research work has industrial applications
Robert	M	British Caucasian	Process design	> 35	Emeritus research associate who spent most of his career in industry.
Dekel	M	Israeli Caucasian	Engineering research	∼ 25	Professor of engineering education
Sunil	M	British Asian	Consultancy	∼ 15	Graduate of engineering who has set up own consultancy
Patrick	M	British Caucasian	Oil and gas	∼ 20	Senior executive with oil and gas company, currently on secondment in a HEI
Deepak	M	British Asian	Manufacturing	> 35	Recently retired engineer, who recruited and worked with placement students
Daniel	M	British Caucasian	Process design	∼ 25	Former lecturer who set up his own consultancy and delivers some teaching at a HEI.
Jake	M	American Caucasian	Biofluids	∼ 20	Professor of chemical engineering who has set up spin-off companies.
Costas	M	Greek Caucasian	Solar power	∼ 20	Professor of chemical engineering who has set up spin-off companies.
Arabela	F	Spanish Caucasian	Pharmaceuticals	Between 20–25	Professor whose research work has industrial applications
Kadira	M	British Asian	Food manufacture	∼ 15	Professional engineer who manages student placement recruits
Peter	M	Irish Caucasian	Bioengineering	>30	Emeritus professor who has set up spin-off companies.
Graham	M	British Caucasian	Oil and gas	>35	Emeritus professor who spent most of his career in industry. Honoured for services to engineering.
Simon	M	British Caucasian	Oil and gas	>35	Emeritus professor who spent most of his career in industry. Honoured for services to engineering.
Toshihiro	M	Japanese Asian	Engineering research	∼ 25	Professor at research-intensive HEI in Japan, does a lot of work with industry
Tamaki	M	Japanese Asian	Engineering research	Between 15 and 20	Senior academic at research-intensive HEI in Japan, does a lot of work with industry
Vasima	F	Nigerian Afro Caribbean	Consultancy	∼ 20	Works extensively in industry, liaison for local university
Vikas	M	Indian Asian	Bioengineering	∼ 10	Newly-appointed lecturer with lab-based research experience (consultancy)
Dhara	F	Indian Asian	Engineering research	∼ 25	Senior academic of engineering research with industrial experience
Jonathan	M	British Afro Caribbean	Lab-based research	∼ 15	Academic with industrial experience, whose main role relates to practical labs/applications of engineering
Kate	F	American Caucasian	Bioengineering	∼ 15	Professor of bioengineering, does a lot of work in industry

Table 2. Annotated (to include codes and categories) paragraph from interview transcript.

I’m always loathe to say well I can use my judgement to work out what’s going to happen
and maybe in the back of my mind, based on my experience and understanding,	[10] – accumulated and assimilated experience
I know it’s likely to be this.
But I try and park that and look at each thing and learn from the process I’m going through.	[2] – application of old knowledge to form new knowledge
Now the engineering judgement is important and something to be aware of and
I think that some of it you learn through training by looking at problems, but a lot of it you learn through experience.	[9] – knowing and understanding the problem [10] – accumulated and assimilated experience
I’m very careful in that I don’t let my previous knowledge or experience cloud my judgement
in looking at the challenge I’m dealing with at the moment
because there may be things that I don’t know or quite understand.	[27] – knowing that it is limited in application

Table 3. Main themes and categories to emerge from the data, and associated numerical codes (Attitudes (A), behaviours (B), cognitive capabilities (C)).

Theme descriptor from staff interviews	Major theme	Categories	Codes	Frequency
Core cognitive approach students ought to take to develop judgement	C	Being able to explain the thought process involved*	1	12
	C	Application of existing knowledge to form new knowledge*	2	18
	C	Basic information is fundamental*	3	15
	C	Competency and theoretical background*	4	21
	C	Use of imagination and/or intuition (related to acquisition of experience)^⁺	5	8
	C	Being able to see the wood from the trees^⁺	6	7
	C	Common sense and logic^⁺	7	11
	C	Understanding the context and consequences beyond the technical scope^⁺	8	7
	C	Really knowing and understanding the problem you want to solve before breaking it down*	9	16
Behaviours students ought to enact and required conditions	B	Accumulated and assimilated experience*	10	23
	B	Students needing to take responsibility for their learning^⁺	11	7
	B	Unwritten rules and failures ought to be documented^⁺	12	1
	B	Asking questions*	13	15
	B	Should be part of a marking criteria e.g. design project^⁺	14	2
	B	Failure treated as a lesson*	15	19
	B	Continual process of development involving reflection*	16	12
Attitudes students ought to acquire that foster obstacles and opportunities	A	Learning from mistakes as part of the experience*	17	23
	A	Constraints if students are able to learn by following a recipe^⁺	18	6
	A	Understanding that higher education acts as a foundation^⁺	19	2
	A	Computer programming can hinder/help understanding of fundamental principles^⁺	20	2
	A	Students not being celebrated enough for knowing/applying judgements^⁺	21	1
	A	Students engage with assessment strategically – self-assessment could be considered^⁺	22	1
	A	Students uncomfortable with making mistakes (feelings of fragility)*	23	12
	A	Confidence and trust in own judgements required*	24	18
	A	Worrying over marks holds students back^⁺	25	6
	A	Students are highly competitive^⁺	26	8
	A	Knowing that engineering judgement is limited in application^⁺	27	3
	A	Students’ lack of passion/enthusiasm for engineering^⁺	28	2

*Major category (more than half the number of respondents commented on this aspect).

^⁺ Minor category (less than half the number of respondents commented on this aspect).

Figure 2. Theoretical competency framework of attitudes (A), behaviours (B) and cognitive capabilities (C) associated with establishing definition and necessary criteria for developing engineering judgement based on a grounded theory approach incorporating principal categories.