Lattuca, L. R., & Knight, D. B., & Bergom, I. M. (2012, June), Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for Engineers  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21173

\bibitem{asee_peer_21173}
  Lattuca, L. R., \& Knight, D. B., \& Bergom, I. M. (2012, June), \emph{Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for Engineers}
  Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas.
  10.18260/1-2--21173

Lisa R. Lattuca, David B. Knight, and Inger M. Bergom.  "Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for Engineers".  2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2012.  https://peer.asee.org/21173 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_21173}
  Lisa R. Lattuca, David B. Knight, and Inger M. Bergom.
  "Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for Engineers".
  \emph{2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, 2012, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2012.
  https://peer.asee.org/21173 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_21173
author = "Lisa R. Lattuca, David B. Knight, and Inger M. Bergom"
title = "Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for Engineers"
booktitle = "2012 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2012"
month = "June"
address = "San Antonio, Texas"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/21173}
number = {10.18260/1-2--21173}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -      Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for EngineersRecent policy documents call for greater investments in interdisciplinary education (e.g. NationalAcademy of Sciences, 2004; National Institutes of Health, 2006) based on the assumption thatinterdisciplinary educational approaches more effectively foster innovation than discipline-basedprograms (National Academy of Engineering, 2004; U.S. Department of Education, 2006) andpromote global competitiveness, national security, and economic prosperity (National Academyof Engineering, 2004; National Science Board, 2010). Recognizing the complexity ofengineering practice, ABET’s Criterion 3.d requires engineering programs to ensure that studentslearn to work in multidisciplinary teams. Aligned with these assumptions is the NationalAcademy of Engineering’s Engineer of 2020 report, which encourages colleges and universitiesto graduate engineers who understand that engineering problems – as well as solutions – areembedded in complex social, cultural, political, environmental, and economic contexts.Developing solutions that account for this enlarged problem space require engineers to access,understand, evaluate, synthesize, and apply information and knowledge from other fields as theyproblem-solve. Engineers must thus develop an appreciation for the contributions of fieldsoutside engineering, a willingness to engage knowledge and/or work with individuals from thosefields, and the ability to use what they learn to engineer effective solutions to the problemspresented. The few tools developed to assess interdisciplinary learning, for example, assessmentrubrics (e.g., Boix Mansilla & Duraising, 2008; Wolfe & Haynes, 2003), can be used to judgeindividual projects in classrooms or classroom studies. These tools are less useful, however, forprogram-level assessments required for accreditation or large-scale research projects that seek toassess students’ learning experiences across institutions or academic programs.In this paper we describe the development and testing of a measure of interdisciplinarycompetence. Interdisciplinarity can be defined as a perspective, practice, or problem-solvingapproach that utilizes knowledge and modes of inquiry drawn from more than one disciplinaryperspective.The paper first describes the eight dimensions of interdisciplinary competence that emerged froman extensive literature review: 1) awareness of disciplinarity; 2) appreciation of disciplinaryperspectives; 3) appreciation of non-disciplinary perspectives; 4) recognition of disciplinarylimitations; 5) interdisciplinary evaluation; 6) ability to find common ground; 7) reflexivity; and8) integrative skill. These dimensions were then operationalized as a set of survey items andrefined through focus groups with engineering faculty. The paper presents the results of a pilottest of these survey items with a sample of more than 375 undergraduate engineers and describesfurther adjustments made to survey items.In addition, the paper includes information on the formation of three scales to measure thismultidimensional construct, using factor analysis and psychometric characteristics (e.g.,reliabilities) of the three interdisciplinary competence scales that emerged from this process. Thepaper demonstrates the ability of the scales to distinguish by students’ class standing, acrossengineering disciplines, and across types of institutions. This measurement development processyielded an effective assessment for engineering students’ interdisciplinary competence that couldbe administered on a large-scale in program assessments and research efforts in engineering.ReferencesBoix Mansilla, V. & Duraising, E. D. (2008). Targeted Assessment of Students’      Interdisciplinary Work: An Empirically Grounded Framework Proposed. Journal of      Higher Education, 78 (2), 215-237.National Academy of Engineering (2004).The engineer of 2020: Visions of engineering in the       new century. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.National Academy of Sciences (2004).Facilitating interdisciplinary research. Washington, D.C.:       National Academies Press.National Institutes of Health (2006).Summary of the President’s FY 2006 budget. Washington,       D.C.: National Institutes of Health.National Science Board. (2010). Ch. 2: Higher Education in Science and Engineering. In Science       and Engineering Indicators: 2010.National Science Foundation, 2.1–2.48.US Department of Education (2006). A test of leadership: Charting the future of American      higher education. Report of the commission appointed by Secretary of Education      Margaret Spellings.Wolfe, C. R., & Haynes, C. (2003a). Assessing interdisciplinary writing. Peer Review, 6(1), 12–       15.
AU  - Lisa R. Lattuca
AU  - David B. Knight
AU  - Inger M. Bergom
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Developing a Measure of Interdisciplinary Competence for Engineers
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21173
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21173
ER  -