Representation of Engineering Concepts in Academic and Engineering Workplace Settings: How situated are engineering concepts in these contexts?

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to examine how building design concepts are represented in academic and workplace settings. Concepts are basic ideas that are often the foundation of academic courses. Examples of concepts are an understanding of the stresses and strains that occur when a structural member, such as a beam or column is loaded. Common practice in academic settings is to present concepts as the relation between relevant variables and understanding how to determine unknown variables in close-ended problems. In engineering practice, however, concepts are utilized to conduct engineering design, within project constraints. Engineering concepts can be embedded in design codes, design software, and in other ways where the characteristics of the concepts are not represented in the same way as the academic setting. This project will study how concepts are represented in academic and workplace settings. Research findings will be used to iteratively develop engineering design problems that are relevant to engineering practice and useful to civil engineering instructors. These problems will be actively disseminated through the civil engineering and engineering education communities. The results will inform current educational approaches to preparing engineers for the workforce by studying the fundamental concepts that make up engineering curricula. The objective of this project is to investigate the nuanced and complex ways of knowing, representing, and communicating concepts of structural and geotechnical engineering concepts specific to building design in both civil engineering practice and academic settings using robust, in-depth, and iterative educational research methodologies. The project will examine and test theories of situated cognition in an engineering work setting, as well as challenge the fundamental premises of engineering education that tend to isolate concepts from application. The research objective will be achieved through three efforts: 1 - Develop a prioritized list of structural and geotechnical engineering concepts related to building design with practicing civil engineers and civil engineering faculty using the Delphi method, 2 - Understand and compare the representation of structural and geotechnical engineering concepts in building design within authentic workplace and academic settings using ethnographically informed research methods, including participant observation, formal and informal interviews, and document analysis, and 3 - Iteratively develop problems and solutions that structural and geotechnical engineers and faculty deem as authentic to building design, and that faculty are willing to adopt into their curriculum. This study will be the first to compare the representation of concepts in academic and workplace settings, specifically within the interdisciplinary environment of building design. The expected outcomes of this project are detailed accounts of differences in concept representation of academic and workplace settings and what they mean for theories of situated learning and for the preparation of engineers for the workplace. Homework, in-class, and test problems created will enhance engineering students' awareness of concepts as they apply them to multiple practical contexts.