Exploring the role of engineering judgment in engineering education through writing praxis in a 3rd year systems engineering writing-in-the-disciplines [WID] course

Royce A Francis; James P Ferguson

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Conference: ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Spring Conference
Location: George Washington University, District of Columbia
Publication Date: April 19, 2024
Start Date: April 19, 2024
End Date: April 20, 2024
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45726
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45726
Download Count: 164

Paper Authors

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Royce A Francis The George Washington University orcid.org/0000-0001-8240-4903

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Dr. Royce Francis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering [EMSE] at the George Washington University. At George Washington, Dr. Francis's engineering education research explores the relationships between professional identity formation and engineering judgment. His other research interests include infrastructure resilience and risk assessment, and safer chemicals decision making.

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James P Ferguson The George Washington University

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Abstract

Critical thinking is central to the rationale of university education and engineering education. Critical thinking does not have a single agreed operational definition in engineering education. One useful definition described by Ahern et al (2019) quoting Facione (1990) is: “[critical thinking] is a ‘purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which judgment is based.’” In this paper, we describe engagement with a writing assignment for undergraduate systems engineering students intended to foreground engineering judgment in student writing processes from the perspective of an instructor and an undergraduate student. We conduct an exploratory autoethnography to construct key elements of the ways both student and instructor participate in the construction of engineering judgments through the course’s writing processes. This reflective essay advances the possibility for engineering judgments constructed in well-designed writing assignments to improve critical thinking capabilities. Judgment is implied by by many common interpretations of critical thinking in engineering. Understanding critical thinking in engineering education is incomplete without closely exploring engineering judgment. Critical thinking, or improving critical thinking, is considered an urgent need because engineering graduates are often considered deficient in these skills upon entry to the workplace. Claris and Riley (2012) discuss this “situation normal” where engineers often possess strong logical thinking skills, but may not possess the skills or disposition to think critically about engineering problem construction and framing, power relations, and other social dimensions shaping engineering practice. However, recent findings of Ford et al. (2021), Lutz and Paretti (2021), and Gewirtz and Paretti (2021) suggest that recent graduates do not face a critical thinking “skills gap,” but a “context gap” upon entry to the workplace due to the situatedness of engineering work and communication practices. While it may not be possible within the undergraduate education context to fully replicate the contexts graduates will face in practice, our goal is to interrogate how a focus on engineering judgment enacted through writing processes may permit an expanded role for the critical perspectives advocated by Claris and Riley (2012).

Citation
Format

Francis, R. A., & Ferguson, J. P. (2024, April), Exploring the role of engineering judgment in engineering education through writing praxis in a 3rd year systems engineering writing-in-the-disciplines [WID] course Paper presented at ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Spring Conference, George Washington University, District of Columbia. 10.18260/1-2--45726

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Critical thinking is central to the rationale of university education and engineering education. Critical thinking does not have a single agreed operational definition in engineering education. One useful definition described by Ahern et al (2019) quoting Facione (1990) is: “[critical thinking] is a ‘purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which judgment is based.’” In this paper, we describe engagement with a writing assignment for undergraduate systems engineering students intended to foreground engineering judgment in student writing processes from the perspective of an instructor and an undergraduate student. We conduct an exploratory autoethnography to construct key elements of the ways both student and instructor participate in the construction of engineering judgments through the course’s writing processes. This reflective essay advances the possibility for engineering judgments constructed in well-designed writing assignments to improve critical thinking capabilities. Judgment is implied by by many common interpretations of critical thinking in engineering. Understanding critical thinking in engineering education is incomplete without closely exploring engineering judgment. Critical thinking, or improving critical thinking, is considered an urgent need because engineering graduates are often considered deficient in these skills upon entry to the workplace. Claris and Riley (2012) discuss this “situation normal” where engineers often possess strong logical thinking skills, but may not possess the skills or disposition to think critically about engineering problem construction and framing, power relations, and other social dimensions shaping engineering practice. However, recent findings of Ford et al. (2021), Lutz and Paretti (2021), and Gewirtz and Paretti (2021) suggest that recent graduates do not face a critical thinking “skills gap,” but a “context gap” upon entry to the workplace due to the situatedness of engineering work and communication practices. While it may not be possible within the undergraduate education context to fully replicate the contexts graduates will face in practice, our goal is to interrogate how a focus on engineering judgment enacted through writing processes may permit an expanded role for the critical perspectives advocated by Claris and Riley (2012). 
AU  - Royce A Francis
AU  - James P Ferguson
CY  - George Washington University, District of Columbia
DA  - 2024/04/19
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Exploring the role of engineering judgment in engineering education through writing praxis in a 3rd year systems engineering writing-in-the-disciplines [WID] course
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/45726
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--45726
ER  -