Imagery in Science and Engineering Education

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education

Year: 2025

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Imagery in Science and Engineering Education

Teresa Monteiro, Fátima Bento, Fátima Morais, Júlia Tovar, Raquel Oliveira, Sandra Franco, Teresa Malheiro

ABSTRACT:

This paper describes classroom interventions that mobilized imagery as a Creative Cognitive Process (CCP) to strengthen creative and analytical thinking in higher education. The activities were implemented in four STEM courses, enrolling about 130 students within the framework of an IDEA-UMinho project, and were observational and evaluative in nature. Students created mind maps, schematic representations, and geometric visualizations of solids of revolution to represent concepts and problems visually, stimulating deeper engagement with course materials and cross-topic connections. While the ultimate goal of this design is to foster creativity, immediate outcomes emerged mainly at the level of transversal competences. In the short term, the systematic use of imagery supported the organization of ideas, conceptual integration, and analytical reasoning, helping students distinguish essential information and identify causal relationships. Students reported increased focus and understanding, though challenges included limited time to refine diagrams and initial reluctance to adopt the method. Examples from this ongoing project will be shown to highlight the potential of this approach. Overall, results suggest that dynamizing the CCP through imagery can enhance attention, comprehension, and critical reflection, thereby creating favourable conditions for the long-term development of creative thinking in science and engineering education.

Keywords: Active Learning, Creative Cognitive Process, Creativity, Higher Education, Visual Representation