Differences in problem-solving styles of university technology, engineering and humanities students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of problem-solving to better understand and contrast the problem-solving style dimensions of technological and personal problem-solving processes. This study utilized 300 students purposively selected from groups of freshmen and seniors in three academic majors: engineering, technology, and humanities at five universities. Two instruments were used in this study. One was the Personal Problem Solving Inventory (PSI-PSYCH), the other was the Technological Problem Solving Inventory (PSI-TECH). A quasi-experimental design was employed. Multivariate analysis of variance, split plot univariate analysis of variance and correlational procedures were employed to analyze the data.;Split plot analysis of data found no significant differences in the overall personal problem solving styles of the engineering, humanities and technology students. However, significant differences were found when students from these same academic areas were compared on the technological problem solving style dimension. This study detected no statistically significant differences between the comparison of PSI-PSYCH and PSI-TECH scores of freshmen and seniors. Nor was there a significant difference in style based on the amount and types of work experience. No significant interactions between programs, levels of students and work experience was detected.;The technological problem solving styles for student groups in diverse academic majors appear to be different. Technology students with the high positive PSI-TECH score exhibited more confidence in solving technological problems. They tend to systematically approach such problems, and showed a greater sense of control over problems than either their humanities or engineering student counterparts. This study's findings indicate that problem solving style did not change from freshman to senior. It may be real advantages to beginning to teach students how to solve problems at an earlier age.;The results of this study suggested to us that personal and technological problem-solving styles are separate and distinct. This study also found that individuals bring different style characteristics to different problem-solving contexts. Thus, this study's results indicate that an appropriate distinction can and should be drawn between technological and personal problem solving styles.