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Engineering/Design Frictions: Exploring Competing Knowledge Systems via Efforts to Integrate Design Principles into Engineering Education

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Communicating Across Cultural and Epistemological Boundaries

Tagged Division

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--30420

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/30420

Download Count

586

Paper Authors

biography

Dean Nieusma Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-2711-3315

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Dean Nieusma is Associate Dean for Curricular Transitions, Associate Professor in Science and Technology Studies, and Director of the Programs in Design and Innovation at Rensselaer.

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Abstract

Human-centered design methods and design thinking are increasingly promoted beyond the traditional creative design disciplines. These approaches are touted as tools for enhanced creativity that help align technical problem solving with actual human capabilities and experiences and result in more innovative outcomes. Engineering education, in particular, has been impacted by the rise in use of design approaches, largely for the better. However, design tools often exist in tension with mainstream approaches to conveying engineering knowledge to students, based as they are in the pursuit of “rigorous” quantified, universalized solutions. This paper explores some of the promises of design pedagogies for innovating engineering education as well as how these same approaches can contradict mainstay engineering educational assumptions and pedagogical frameworks. The paper concludes by reflecting on the extent to which engineering and design approaches are incommensurable and where opportunities exist for meeting in the middle.

Nieusma, D. (2018, June), Engineering/Design Frictions: Exploring Competing Knowledge Systems via Efforts to Integrate Design Principles into Engineering Education Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30420

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