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The Engineering In Context program is an undergraduate
engineering education initiative designed to address the discrepancy
between the reality of modern engineering practice and the
way engineering is taught. For the most part, engineering
is currently taught as a series of lectures designed to develop
mastery of analytical skills and core knowledge extracted
from particular engineering disciplines. A key component of
engineering education is missing: the connection between the
act of engineering and the greater context--cultural, organizational
and technological--which shapes engineering solutions, lends
them purpose and defines their impact. The EIC initiative
seeks to make the context of engineering design and practice
real to students mainly through the fourth-year capstone sequence
with sustained attention to context.
Such an
approach promises three major benefits: (1) graduates who
are better prepared to succeed in the global, multidisciplinary,
and dynamic environment of modern engineering; (2) greater
motivation for and retention of students, especially women
and minorities, by connecting engineering to the needs of
society; and (3) engineering solutions and products that are
more fully attuned to the needs and values of the society
they are designed to serve.
Engineering
educators have long recognized the discrepancy between engineering
education and engineering practice, but two trends have conspired
to widen and draw attention to this gap. First, academic engineering
has become increasingly disciplinary and narrow in focus.
Second, and antithetical to the first trend, engineering practice
has become more interdisciplinary and cross-cultural, with
greater value being placed on the flexibility required to
succeed in an increasingly competitive environment. The abstraction
of core knowledge in engineering from its context leaves graduates
poorly prepared to meet the real challenges confronting engineers
in this new environment. Students often lack experience with
solving open-ended problems requiring creativity and choosing
from among alternatives, working in multidisciplinary and
multifunctional teams, dealing with non-analytical factors,
such as regulatory, liability, health and environmental issues,
which are often more critical than analytical problem solving
skills in determining the likelihood of success in engineering.
This program addresses this issue by integrating context at
every level of the undergraduate engineering experience.
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