Abstract:

Creativity is of great importance for engineering and therefore it must be taken into account in the educational environment. This is nowadays acknowledged by professors, students as well as by researchers. Since last decades different approaches have been studied by researchers to foster the development of creative thinking in engineering students. Courses about creativity and new pedagogical strategies have been implemented in some engineering educational programs. Creativity is also included in new Spain´s engineering programs under the EHEA, as a competence to be developed by their subjects. One of these subjects is Graphic Expression.

The aim of Graphic Expression subjects is to teach how to draw and understand Engineering Graphic representations. Several studies show that creativity can be fostered in these subjects. This is due to certain skills developed through graphical expression subjects, such as spatial abilities and Visual Thinking, as well and the practice of freehand drawing and sketching.

We performed a study in Graphic Expression subjects from Spain´s Engineering Faculties from the syllabi of different engineering degrees (e.g. Industrial Technologies, Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering) in order to identify how creativity competence is taken into account as well as how it is developed. The methodology was studying the subject´s contents and teaching methodologies, according to how spatial skills, visual thinking and freehand drawing are fostered.

Keywords:

Graphic Expression, Creativity, Engineering Education.