Understanding the Formation of Sociotechnical Thinking in Engineering Education

Colorado School Of Mines, Golden CO

Investigators

Abstract

The ability to integrate social and technical elements into a unified sociotechnical way of thinking is an important skill for professional engineers since engineering takes place in settings that involve people. Unfortunately, the curricula that engineering students encounter at many engineering colleges and universities do not provide sufficient education in the area of sociotechnical thinking. In this project, the research team builds on prior research to extend sociotechnical education into additional classrooms at two universities to better understand how students learn to think sociotechnically. The results from the two new courses, one each in electrical and mechanical engineering, will be compared to those from the original research project to better understand barriers and opportunities for such educational practices in this broader context. The three primary project goals are: 1) to increase understanding of the processes by which students develop their abilities to engineer sociotechnically; 2) to advance understanding of how sociotechnical thinking impacts engineering habits of mind, including specific engineering values, attitudes, and skills; and 3) to increase understanding of the transferability of sociotechnical integration methods between courses and institutions. Key contributions include the creation of new understandings of the process by which students learn to think sociotechnically and assessment of the transferability of teaching elements and results from one course and instructor to two others. An estimated 1000 students over three years will benefit from new skills, and undergraduate research assistants will further learn how to conduct engineering education research. This research builds upon an earlier grant to examine the processes by which students acquire sociotechnical thinking in mechanical and electrical engineering courses and the impacts of sociotechnical integration on their engineering habits of mind. Data will be collected and analyzed from pre- and post-assessments, assignments, focus groups, and faculty reflection logs over the course of three years. The intellectual merit of the research centers on the creation of new understandings of processes by which students form sociotechnical engineering attitudes and skills, using triangulation via a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to increase validity. The plan to assess transferability to different classes and universities represents a significant new contribution compared to prior research. In terms of broader impacts, by better understanding how approximately 1000 students over three years form, struggle with, and benefit from sociotechnical thinking, the research can identify the means by which diverse students acquire sociotechnical engineering attributes that align with professional practice. The research will also identify specific mechanisms of transferability to guide sociotechnical learning across engineering education. The diverse research team will learn from each other, improving collective understanding of how students develop sociotechnical thinking. A long-term impact is to inspire broader innovations in sociotechnical engineering within engineering science core courses and thereby to disrupt the artificial divide that prioritizes techno-centric thinking within engineering education.