Collaborative Research: Liberal Studies in Engineering - Broadening the Path to the Profession: Feasibility Study

这个改进本科STEM教育（IUSE）项目将制定一个框架，用于建立一个被称为工程通识研究的本科、预专业、文学学士学位课程。该计划旨在建立另一种途径进入工程，并吸引不同群体的学生的兴趣比现有的方法。该计划将利用传统的本科工程课程的实质性内容-工程科学，实验室活动和设计项目-并从人文，艺术和社会科学以及工程的角度对其进行研究。传统上，工程教育强调数学和科学的先决条件，并在课程的后期以间接的方式解决更广泛的社会、经济、文化和伦理方面的问题。计划中的工程学位通识研究设想扭转这一过程，为学生提供一种从人文、艺术和社会角度学习这一学科的方法。预计工程通识教育方法将吸引一部分本科生的兴趣，这些本科生在当前学科的数学优先先决结构中没有找到他们的目标和关注点。此外，对上下文的关注和对分析思维、多重框架、批判性反思和实践推理的强调，这些是文科学习的关键维度，可以更好地为学生当前和未来工程实践的现实做好准备。这个项目代表了工程通识教育学位发展的初始阶段。一项可行性研究将进行，以确定必须到位的制度政策和程序，所需的资源，以及学生应该具备的工程通识学位课程的先决条件。作为其中的一部分，将努力促进和支持项目参与者开发学习单元，从人文和社会科学的角度说明示范工程内容的教学方法。将为模块开发提供同行评审和技术支持。这项研究将包括来自选定机构的教师和管理人员的投入，以获得多样化和广泛的观点。本研究代表了一个多阶段过程的开始，通过提供进入该学科的途径和获得与传统途径明显不同但仍包含可比内容的学位的途径，探索和发展扩大工程参与的潜在变革步骤。

This Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) project will develop a framework for establishing an undergraduate, pre-professional, Bachelor of Arts degree program called Liberal Studies in Engineering. This program intends to establish an alternative pathway into engineering and attract the interest of a different group of students than existing approaches. The program will utilize the substantive content of the traditional undergraduate engineering program - the engineering sciences, the laboratory activities, and design projects - and subject this to study from the perspectives of the humanities, arts, and social sciences as well as engineering. Traditionally engineering education emphasizes mathematics and science prerequisite topics for beginning students and addresses the broader social, economic, cultural and ethical aspects much later in the curriculum and often in an indirect manner. The planned liberal studies in engineering degree envisions reversing the process, offering students an approach to the discipline from a humanistic, artistic, and social perspective. It is expected that the Liberal Studies in Engineering approach will attract the interest of a segment of undergraduates that do not find their goals and concerns represented in the current mathematics-first prerequisite structure of the discipline. Additionally the attention to context and emphasis on analytical thinking, multiple framing, critical reflection and practical reasoning, key dimensions of learning in the liberal arts, may better prepare students for the realities of current and future engineering practice. This project represents an initial phase in the development of a Liberal Studies in Engineering degree. A feasibility study will be carried out to identify the institutional policies and procedures that must be in place, the resources needed, and prerequisites students should have for a Liberal Studies in Engineering degree program. As part of this, efforts will be made to promote and support the development by project participants of leaning units that illustrate the approach of teaching exemplary engineering content from the perspective of the humanities and social sciences. Peer review, and technical support will be made available for module development. The study will include input from faculty and administrators at selected institutions to obtain diverse and broad-based perspectives. This study represents the beginning of a multi-phase process to explore and develop a potentially transformative step in broadening participation in engineering by offering a pathway into the discipline and a route to a degree that is markedly different from the traditional path but still encompasses comparable content.