Teaching risk-taking to engineering design students needs risk-taking

Abstract

Creativity is essential in the engineering design process to achieve innovative results. However, research has consistently shown that among the many factors that foster creativity in engineering education, one of the most central requirements is risk-taking, which is not widely covered in engineering design education. This article attempts to understand the risk-taking approach in an engineering design education environment both from the students’ and the instructors’ perspective by conducting a qualitative comparative study in an Australian University. Overall, the study finds that instructors’ teaching method has an influence on students’ approach towards risk-taking. The evidence shows that engineering instructors are risk adverse and hesitate to adopt new approaches in education. However, fostering creativity in education requires a creative approach, which is possible through risk-taking. Encouraging engineering students to adopt a risk-taking approach during the design process is not possible until the engineering instructors and engineering faculties are willing to take risks in their own teaching methods.