How drawing prompts can increase cognitive engagement in an active learning engineering course

Abstract Background Recent engineering education research has found improved learning outcomes when instructors engage students actively (e.g., through practice problems) rather than passively (e.g., in lectures). As more instructors shift toward active learning, research needs to identify how different types of activities affect students' cognitive engagement with concepts in the classroom. In this study, we investigate the effects of prompting novice students to draw when solving problems, a professional practice of engineers. Purpose We investigate whether implementing instructional prompts to draw in an active learning classroom (a) increases students' use and value of drawing as a problem‐solving strategy and (b) enhances students' problem‐solving performance. Method We compared survey data and exam scores collected in one undergraduate class that received prompts to draw in video lectures and in‐class problems (drawing condition) and one class that received no drawing prompts (control condition). Results After drawing prompts were implemented, students' use and value of drawing increased, and these effects persisted to the end of the semester. Students were more likely to draw when provided drawing prompts. Furthermore, students who received prompts outperformed students who did not on exam questions that target conceptual understanding. Conclusions Our findings reveal how implementing drawing prompts in an active learning classroom may help students engage in drawing and solve problems conceptually. This study contributes to our understanding of what types of active learning activities can improve instructional practices in engineering education. Particularly, we show how prompts that foster authentic engineering practices can increase cognitive engagement in introductory‐level engineering courses.