Atop the google search for “journal of engineering education” is a review from 2005 on teaching (engineering) design:
“Engineering Design Thinking, Teaching, and Learning“, Dym et al.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.72.1593
Apparently the favored approach to teach design is so-called “Project-Based Learning”, not to be confused with “Problem-Based Learning” with the same acronym and, at first glance, the same objective, approach, and everything else. According to the authors, however, Project-Based Learning is the result of educators failing to find any other alternative to teaching the creative process of applying their newly-learned engineering principles to design something. In other words, the goal is to teach what are essentially meta-cognitive skills, or at least meta-something skills. For example the importance of careful planning and dealing with uncertainty. Meanwhile students should already know the fundamentals they are applying. Other features highlighted or recommended by the authors also read like a list of useful educational techniques: team-based projects, relevance of projects, and student input to project selection.
