Component 4 Evaluation and Reflection on the Design Process - Key Terms

Term

Definition

Accountability

The concept of being held responsible to oneself and others for actions and consequences of actions either committed or omitted. Accountability is basically being able to be taken at face value for your words and actions.

Benchmark

Benchmark: A standard or set of standards used as a point of reference for evaluating performance or level of quality.

Brevity

1. Concise and exact use of words. 2. Shortness of time.

Chronological Pattern

A pattern used in informative speeches where information is presented in order based on time.

Correlate

A mathematical process used to determine if an observed outcome is attributable to an imposed condition. A correlation of 1.00 indicates absolute dependency. A correlation of zero indicates a purely random outcome.

Critical Design Review

A review held when a deliverable has reached a point where viability of the design can be judged.

Critical Thinking

The ability to acquire information, analyze and evaluate it, and reach a conclusion or answer by using logic and reasoning skills.

Deliverables

The end product; that which will be delivered; often used in the plural.

Develop

To change the form of something through a succession of states or stages, each of which is preparatory to the next. The successive changes are undertaken to improve the quality of or refine the resulting object or software.

Engineering Design Process Portfolio Scoring Rubric

A detailed rubric developed by a group of post-secondary educators and led by the University of Maryland aimed at organizing and assessing the engineering design process. The rubric was started in March of 2010 and is in a process of research and validation that will take place over three years.

Expert

Someone recognized as a reliable source of knowledge, technique, or skill whose judgment is accorded authority and status by the public or their peers.

Expository

Serving to expound, set forth, or explain.

Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation that comes from the outside. Is either literally apart from the issue in question or derived from something external to it.

Fact

A statement or piece of information that is true or a real occurrence.

Functioning Prototype

A model intended to finalize the operational elements of your invention before it goes into production.

Inductive Reasoning

Logical conclusions drawn from inferred, presumed, and extrapolated data.

Innovation

An improvement of an existing technological product, system, or method of doing something.

Inquiry Methods

Scientifically specific methods of forming and then answering questions germane to the larger problem at hand.

Intellectual Property

Any product of someone's intellect that has commercial value, especially copyrighted material, patents, and trademarks.

Intrapreneur

A person in a corporation who is given the freedom and resources to initiate products, business ventures, etc.

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation that comes from within. 

Invention

A new product, system, or process that has never existed before, created by study and experimentation.

Milestones

Key dates, usually when a particularly important deliverable must be delivered.

Patent

A grant made by a government that gives an individual or a body the sole right to make, use, and sell an invention for a set period of time.

Patent Infringement

A patent provides the proprietor of that patent with the right to exclude others from utilizing the invention claimed in that patent. When a person utilizes that invention without the permission of the patent proprietor, they have committed a patent infringement.

Process Documentation

A step-by-step record of the process used throughout a project or task.

Provisional Patent

A less expensive and detailed application that allows one year’s protection to provide time to further investigate or pursue licensing before filing a regular patent application.

Royalties

A share of the proceeds or product paid to the owner of a right, as a patent, for permission to use it or operate under it.

Technical Research Paper

A document that conveys the results of scientific and technical research and provides recommendations for action.

Technical Writing

A subset of technical communication, technical writing is a broad term used to describe specialized correspondence in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Technical writing communicates technical (specialized) information, generally in the form of printed or printable documentation (e.g., PDF) and online help. The type and form of the produced documentation depends on the needs of the audience and on the product being documented.