Understanding the Formation of Sociotechnical Thinking in Engineering Education

将社会和技术元素整合到统一的社会技术思维方式中的能力是专业工程师的重要技能，因为工程是在涉及人的环境中进行的。不幸的是，工程专业学生在许多工程学院和大学遇到的课程没有提供足够的社会技术思维方面的教育。在这个项目中，研究小组在先前研究的基础上，将社会技术教育扩展到两所大学的其他教室，以更好地了解学生如何学习社会技术思维。从两个新的课程，一个在电气和机械工程的结果，将从原来的研究项目进行比较，以更好地了解在这个更广泛的背景下，这种教育实践的障碍和机会。三个主要的项目目标是：1）增加理解的过程中，学生发展自己的能力，工程sociotechnically; 2）推进理解如何社会技术思维影响工程思维习惯，包括具体的工程价值观，态度和技能;和3）增加理解的课程和机构之间的社会技术整合方法的可转移性。主要贡献包括创造新的理解的过程中，学生学会思考社会技术和评估的教学元素和结果的可转移性从一个课程和教师到其他两个。预计三年内将有1000名学生受益于新技能，本科生研究助理将进一步学习如何进行工程教育研究。 本研究建立在较早的补助金，以检查学生获得社会技术思维的过程中，机械和电气工程课程和社会技术整合对他们的工程习惯的影响。数据将收集和分析从前和后评估，作业，焦点小组和教师的反思日志在三年的过程中。研究的智力价值集中在创造新的理解过程中，学生形成社会技术工程的态度和技能，通过定量和定性方法相结合，以提高有效性使用三角测量。与先前的研究相比，评估不同班级和大学的可转移性的计划是一个重大的新贡献。在更广泛的影响方面，通过更好地了解大约1000名学生在三年内如何形成，与社会技术思维斗争并从中受益，研究可以确定不同学生获得与专业实践相一致的社会技术工程属性的方法。该研究还将确定具体的可转移机制，以指导整个工程教育的社会技术学习。多样化的研究团队将相互学习，提高学生如何发展社会技术思维的集体理解。一个长期的影响是激发工程科学核心课程中社会技术工程的更广泛创新，从而打破工程教育中优先考虑以技术为中心的思维的人为鸿沟。

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.