Engineering as Conflict: A Framing for Liberal Engineering Education

Jenna Tonn; Avneet Hira

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Transgression, Conflict, and Altruism
Tagged Division: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47271

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Paper Authors

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Jenna Tonn Boston College

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Dr. Jenna Tonn is a historian of science, technology, and engineering at Boston College. She received her BA and MA from Stanford University and her PhD from Harvard University. Her research focuses on the social and cultural history of technical knowledge, with a specific interest in women and gender in STEM fields. Currently, Professor Tonn is working on a book, Boys in the Lab: Masculinity and the Rise of the American Life Sciences, about the relationship between manliness, experimental biology, and feelings of belonging in modern science. Her research specialties include histories of women, gender, and sexuality in modern science and technology; the interplay between engineers and engineering practices and the infrastructure of everyday life; and the relationship between design, technology, and justice.

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Avneet Hira Boston College

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Dr. Avneet Hira is an Assistant Professor in the Human-Centered Engineering Program and the Department of Teaching, Curriculum and Society (by courtesy) at Boston College.

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Abstract

In this paper we use the framing of “engineering as conflict” to unpack tensions, historical context, and practice of a liberal engineering education. Engineers have long positioned themselves as “problem-solvers” uniquely situated to use technical knowledge to propose solutions to complex problems. Recent work has identified the need to better integrate nontechnical knowledge into engineering education as a way of reflecting the complex social and political landscapes that structure engineering practice (Reddy, Kleine, Parsons, & Nieusma 2023). Here we explore using a framework for “engineering as conflict” as a compelling practice of sociotechnical integration at the undergraduate level. Here, conflict refers to the practice or process of disagreement, difference of opinion or tensions. From the perspective of science and technology studies, conflict can be understood as central to understanding the consequences of engineering decision-making in contemporary society. Practically, conflict, in the form of “normal accidents” or instances of environmental injustice, provides occasions for record-keeping, for legal action, and for media attention (Perrow 1984). Historically, in the US context, conflict motivated and accelerated research and development in engineering (Lucena 2005). Analytically, conflict as a structure offers an opportunity to clarify differences in opinion and experience from the perspectives of engineers, political officials, corporate representatives, and community members. From the perspective of engineering design, conflict offers an alternate space for reimagining engineering education as one informed by tensions (Cheville and Heywood, 2016) and inherent to the “wicked” or sociotechnical pursuit of engineering design (Coyne, 2005; Norman & Stapper, 2015). We are writing from our positions as founding faculty members of an engineering department in a liberal arts institution coming from scholarly traditions in science and technology studies and engineering/engineering design education. In this paper, we hope to conceptualize “engineering as conflict” as a framing for engineering liberal education and share examples from our curricular and program development work.

Citation
Format

Tonn, J., & Hira, A. (2024, June), Engineering as Conflict: A Framing for Liberal Engineering Education Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47271

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In this paper we use the framing of “engineering as conflict” to unpack tensions, historical context, and practice of a liberal engineering education. Engineers have long positioned themselves as “problem-solvers” uniquely situated to use technical knowledge to propose solutions to complex problems. Recent work has identified the need to better integrate nontechnical knowledge into engineering education as a way of reflecting the complex social and political landscapes that structure engineering practice (Reddy, Kleine, Parsons, &amp;amp; Nieusma 2023). Here we explore using a framework for “engineering as conflict” as a compelling practice of sociotechnical integration at the undergraduate level. Here, conflict refers to the practice or process of disagreement, difference of opinion or tensions. From the perspective of science and technology studies, conflict can be understood as central to understanding the consequences of engineering decision-making in contemporary society. Practically, conflict, in the form of “normal accidents” or instances of environmental injustice, provides occasions for record-keeping, for legal action, and for media attention (Perrow 1984). Historically, in the US context, conflict motivated and accelerated research and development in engineering (Lucena 2005). Analytically, conflict as a structure offers an opportunity to clarify differences in opinion and experience from the perspectives of engineers, political officials, corporate representatives, and community members. From the perspective of engineering design, conflict offers an alternate space for reimagining engineering education as one informed by tensions (Cheville and Heywood, 2016) and inherent to the “wicked” or sociotechnical pursuit of engineering design (Coyne, 2005; Norman &amp;amp; Stapper, 2015). We are writing from our positions as founding faculty members of an engineering department in a liberal arts institution coming from scholarly traditions in science and technology studies and engineering/engineering design education. In this paper, we hope to conceptualize “engineering as conflict” as a framing for engineering liberal education and share examples from our curricular and program development work. 
AU  - Jenna Tonn
AU  - Avneet Hira
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engineering as Conflict: A Framing for Liberal Engineering Education 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47271
ER  -