Conference Session

The Interdisciplinary Nature of Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Benjamin Cohen, Lafayette College; Jenn Stroud Rossmann, Lafayette College; Kristen L. Sanford Bernhardt, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Multidisciplinary Engineering

often focuseson engineering in isolation from the larger socio-technical context that holds those skills together.A focus for these efforts is the piloting of a course introducing first-year students to engineeringas a socio-technical mode of engagement. The new course, taught within the structure of arequired “Introduction to Engineering” framework, develops a socio-technical concept oftechnology as a system and engineering as a multi-faceted (not strictly technical) activity. Thisfollows from innovations in engineering pedagogy from decades of STS scholarship, and fromthe emerging field of engineering studies scholarship. This paper discusses the unique features ofthis effort at a small liberal arts college, and concludes that the pilot

Conference Session

The Interdisciplinary Nature of Engineering

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xiaofeng Tang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society, Multidisciplinary Engineering

alumni who graduated from programs that blend professional training withbroad studies in the liberal arts, we seldom hear students evaluate such integration-orientedprograms in their own terms: What do they expect from a more holistic model of engineeringeducation? In what ways do they find a more comprehensive learning experience empowering orconstraining? What do they appreciate the most about their programs? What changes do theywish to see? This paper looks into the “user experience” of educational initiatives that seek tobring together engineering and liberal learning.The analysis presented here draws partly upon my dissertation research, a cross-institutionalinvestigation of integrating engineering and liberal education. The dissertation

Conference Session

Teaching Communication I

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brad Jerald Henderson, University of California, Davis

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

One uses arithmeticaland algebraic principles to understand sentences as equations with the parts of speech asvariables. Level Two focuses on more complex applications of “sentence algebra” to helpengineering writers troubleshoot common sentence-level errors and develop a clear, discipline-specific style. Level Three uses flowcharts as algorithms to teach the rhetoric behind effectivedocument structures. The system’s quantitative approach and bottom-up paradigm make it user-friendly for engineering students by guiding their ascent toward writing mastery using anapproach already encountered in the students’ studies of math, physics, chemistry, and otherSTEM disciplines. The author is encapsulating this new math-based approach for