A Delphi Study as a First Step in Developing a Concept Inventory for Engineering Graphics

Unlike many other subjects in engineering such as statics, dynamics, or strength of materials, engineering graphics instruction has changed significantly over the past century. The primary reason for this change is the development of new graphical tools and methods at an increasingly rapid pace. In light of this, it is important that graphics educators keep sight of the fundamentals in graphics education and not rush to change for the sake of new tools. Unfortunately, there is little agreement about what constitutes the fundamentals in graphics education. Further, there appears to be a significant international disconnect among graphics educators regarding what should be included in graphics instruction. In other science and engineering fields, such as physics, mathematics, statistics, and engineering science, concept inventories have been developed in recent years to define the fundamental concepts in those disciplines. The concept inventories provide educators with a standardized instrument that they can use to help design their courses and to determine if their students understand the fundamentals. The authors of this paper propose to conduct a Delphi study to define the fundamentals in graphics education. A Delphi study is viewed by many as the first step in the development of a concept inventory. This paper outlines the proposed study and describes the necessary next steps in the process.