Engineering the Inclusive Mindset for the Future: A Blueprint for Systemic Change in Engineering Education

American Society For Engineering Education, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project is examining the current state of the engineering curriculum and making recommendations regarding its future direction to meet the needs of the society of tomorrow. Many reports have emerged in the recent past regarding needed changes in engineering education for the future; however, this project will go one step further and actually develop a Blueprint for a plan of action in how we can achieve that vision. Through a partnership between the National Academy of Engineering and the American Society for Engineering Education, the project is laying the groundwork for a sea change in engineering education that will transform our educational system far into the future. The world is rapidly changing. We are entering an age of exponential change. Who knows what is in store for us in the next few decades? What does the future hold for the engineering profession? How will our curriculum get us there? Through this project, we will conduct the planning activities and write reports necessary to move us forward in understanding the required characteristics of the engineer of the future as well as defining the type of curricular changes we will need to realize this vision. Two primary documents will be the outcomes from this project. Engineering the Inclusive Mindset for the Future Report will be the culmination of more than a two-year of effort on behalf of the American Society for Engineering Education and will outline a vision of the changes needed for the engineering curriculum of the future. The second document will outline the details of a blueprint (tactical plan) for a larger project to transform engineering education. The blueprint will inform a planned NAE Engineering 2050 report and will include a multi-year action plan to implement the ASEE/NAE recommendations. In short, The NAE Engineering of 2050 Report will describe where we need to be and the ASEE Mindset Report will describe how to get there. The Blueprint for Change (action plan) we develop will ensure that these two reports are not merely read, put on a bookshelf, and forgotten but will be acted upon to produce real and lasting change. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.