1 Reductive Sketching to Synergize Authentic Problem Solving in Engineering Leonhard E. Bernold Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile Leonhard.Bernold@usm.cl Luis Felipe Gonzalez Böhme Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile luisfelipe.gonzalez@usm.cl Sandro Maino Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile sandro.maino@usm.cl Abstract: As the engineering faculty is encouraged to adopt authentic problem based teaching the need for students to re-tool their learning skills is increasing. One such skill is modelling the real world in a way that principles of math and physics can be utilized. This paper addresses two issues related to sketching for learning. The first section presents an iterative procedure to verify problem understanding using abstractive visualization. Building on the rich heritage of hand-drawing in architectural design and sketch-based reasoning, the text offers a reductive process to elicit a model as a basis for understanding the problem. The second part presents the result of an investigation to test the hypothesis that engineering students’ consider sketching an important skill to support their learning. Based on the positive first results, the design of a scaffolded approach to introduce engineering sketching as a critical learning and problem solving skill is underway. Introduction and background Every teacher in engineering has surely experienced the rush of student engaged in a problem-solving exercise to immediately recommend “the” solution before understanding all the relevant issues related to the problem. This well-known phenomenon led Albert Einstein to summarize that “If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” Much has been written about strategies to solve problems in science but Pólya’s (1946) four principles are still providing the core elements: 1) Understand the problem, 2) devise a plan of the solution, 3) carry out the plan and check each step, and 4) look back to examine the solution obtained. This, we may say, is the “problem-focused” strategy that is generally adopted by scientists as opposed to the “solution-focused” strategy used by architects and designers to solve problems. According to Lawson (1979), scientists usually focus their attention on discovering the rules that govern the problem at hand, whereas architects learn about the nature of the problem as a result of trying out solutions, i.e., “conjectured solutions” as argued by Cross (1982). To Pólya (1946), one of the basic methods for understanding any problem, not only of geometry, is to draw a figure, that is, to try to find some lucid geometrical representation for the problem at hand. This task is already an important step toward the solution. Wankat and Oreovicz (1993) in their book, Teaching Engineering, pointed to the importance of the first step in problem solving, ”… students need to practice defining problems and drawing sketches.…(this) is often given very little attention by novices. They need to list the knowns and the unknowns, draw a figure, and perhaps draw an abstract figure which shows