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About

Jonathan P. Adams is a prominent engineering education researcher whose work has significantly shaped our understanding of creative problem solving and its cultivation in undergraduate engineering programs. Based at the intersection of pedagogy and engineering practice, Adams has dedicated his career to investigating how students develop and demonstrate the complex cognitive skills demanded by modern engineering challenges. Adams is perhaps best known for his longitudinal research into reusable learning objects and robotics as pedagogical tools. His most influential work, a three-year project examining problem solving and creativity in engineering (2010, 44 citations), offered rare empirical insight into how these essential yet often poorly defined competencies can be both fostered and assessed — filling a critical gap left by benchmark and policy statements that mandate such skills without providing instructional guidance. His earlier studies using LEGO Mindstorms robots as problem-solving platforms demonstrated innovative ways to engage students in foundational programming and design thinking, blending hands-on experimentation with structured inquiry. Across his body of work, Adams consistently challenges engineering educators to focus not just on the products of student thinking, but on the processes underlying it. His research has earned over 80 cumulative citations, cementing his influence as a thoughtful advocate for creativity-centered engineering education reform.