The Effects of Concept Mapping on Design Neurocognition: An Empirical Study Measuring Changes in the Brain when Defining Design Problems

Grand challenges in engineering are complex and require engineers to be cognizant of different systems associated with each problem. The approach to think about these systems is called systems thinking. Systems thinking provides engineers with a lens to identify relationships between multiple components which helps them develop new ideas about the problem. Concept maps are a tool that enables systems thinking by helping engineers organize ideas and the relationship between ideas, graphically. The research presented in this thesis uses concept maps, as an intervention to help engineering students think in systems and, in turn, shape how they frame their design problem. The aim of the research was to understand the neurocognitive effects of engineering students thinking in systems. The effects of systems thinking on neurocognition is not well understood. Sixty-six engineering students were randomly chosen to either draw concept maps about a design problem or not. They were then asked to develop design problem statements for two design problems. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure changes in oxy-hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of students while they developed their design problem statements. A lower average oxy-Hb was observed in the group that was first asked to develop concept maps. The lower activation was observed in their left PFC. The group of students who first developed concept maps also demonstrated lower network connections between brain regions in the prefrontal cortex, which is a proxy for functional coordination. Using concept maps changed activation in students' brains, reducing the average neuro-cognition in the left PFC and reducing the need for functional coordination between brain regions.