No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design
Engineering design induces mental stress for students and the sources of stress for each stage of design are unique. Therefore, strategies are needed to manage the stress of engineering design that are applicable across the design process. This study investigated the effect of a brief mindfulness-ba...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Design Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470122000051/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811156460958121984 |
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| author | Hannah Nolte Jacquelyn Huff Christopher McComb |
| author_facet | Hannah Nolte Jacquelyn Huff Christopher McComb |
| author_sort | Hannah Nolte |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Engineering design induces mental stress for students and the sources of stress for each stage of design are unique. Therefore, strategies are needed to manage the stress of engineering design that are applicable across the design process. This study investigated the effect of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on first-year students’ cognitive stress during concept generation, concept selection and physical modelling. It was found that the mindfulness-based intervention did increase one aspect of students’ state mindfulness (though the effect was small). While prior work indicates that increased mindfulness can lower perceived stress, the increase in students’ state mindfulness during this study was not found to have an observable impact on students’ stress experience. However, students were receptive to completing a mindfulness-based activity in-class and perceived multiple benefits. Physical modelling was the most stressful of the design tasks while concept generation and concept selection produced similar levels of stress. Students used five reoccurring mechanisms for coping with the stress of design including focusing on the task, minimising the importance of their performance, breathing, taking a break and avoidance/distraction. More research should be conducted with longer duration mindfulness-based interventions to understand their potential as a stress management strategy for engineering design. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:50:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d425bd104198495fb22e04fd0dceef0c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-4701 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:50:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Design Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d425bd104198495fb22e04fd0dceef0c2023-03-09T12:32:05ZengCambridge University PressDesign Science2053-47012022-01-01810.1017/dsj.2022.5No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering designHannah Nolte0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2545-8424Jacquelyn Huff1Christopher McComb2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5024-7701Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USASchool of Engineering Design and Professional Programs, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USAEngineering design induces mental stress for students and the sources of stress for each stage of design are unique. Therefore, strategies are needed to manage the stress of engineering design that are applicable across the design process. This study investigated the effect of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on first-year students’ cognitive stress during concept generation, concept selection and physical modelling. It was found that the mindfulness-based intervention did increase one aspect of students’ state mindfulness (though the effect was small). While prior work indicates that increased mindfulness can lower perceived stress, the increase in students’ state mindfulness during this study was not found to have an observable impact on students’ stress experience. However, students were receptive to completing a mindfulness-based activity in-class and perceived multiple benefits. Physical modelling was the most stressful of the design tasks while concept generation and concept selection produced similar levels of stress. Students used five reoccurring mechanisms for coping with the stress of design including focusing on the task, minimising the importance of their performance, breathing, taking a break and avoidance/distraction. More research should be conducted with longer duration mindfulness-based interventions to understand their potential as a stress management strategy for engineering design.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470122000051/type/journal_articleengineering designmindfulnesscognitive stressmental workload |
| spellingShingle | Hannah Nolte Jacquelyn Huff Christopher McComb No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design Design Science engineering design mindfulness cognitive stress mental workload |
| title | No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design |
| title_full | No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design |
| title_fullStr | No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design |
| title_full_unstemmed | No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design |
| title_short | No time for that? An investigation of mindfulness and stress in first-year engineering design |
| title_sort | no time for that an investigation of mindfulness and stress in first year engineering design |
| topic | engineering design mindfulness cognitive stress mental workload |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2053470122000051/type/journal_article |
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