A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation

Xavier, Patricia; Wint, Natalie; White, Gabrielle Orbaek

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-11601-8_4

Book chapter 681 views

A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation

Patricia Xavier

, Natalie Wint, Gabrielle Orbaek White

Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, Volume: 42, Pages: 65 - 92

Swansea University Authors: Patricia Xavier , Natalie Wint, Gabrielle Orbaek White

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/978-3-031-11601-8_4

Abstract

The bodies responsible for the accreditation of engineering degree schemes are placing increasing emphasis on the need for students to demonstrate an awareness of the social context in which engineering is practiced. As a result, a growing number of engineering educators will soon find themselves on...

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Published in:	Philosophy of Engineering and Technology
ISBN:	9783031116001 9783031116018
ISSN:	1879-7202 1879-7210
Published:	Cham Springer International Publishing 2023
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62650

first_indexed	2023-02-13T09:11:05Z
last_indexed	2023-03-07T04:17:49Z
id	cronfa62650
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As a result, a growing number of engineering educators will soon find themselves on a journey towards interpreting what ‘social’ means in the context of engineering education. This chapter aims to provide a contemporary snapshot of the status of this journey. Semi-structured interviews were used to provide information about (1) how educators within UK higher education interpret ‘social’ within the context of engineering education (2) areas within courses and programs where ‘social’ has been incorporated (3) the external (accreditation bodies) and internal (academic institutions) factors that influence the process involved. Participants included individuals engaged in incorporating social aspects into engineering degree schemes and/or with the accreditation process. They ranged from module coordinators to those involved in creating the latest version of learning outcomes on behalf of the Engineering Council in the UK. Data underwent thematic and semantic analysis and drew upon a framework that lays out the contending modes of engineering education and strategies for curriculum change. Findings indicate that ‘social’ has a wide variety of meanings and implications within the context of engineering education. Although there was agreement that the topic needed to be further embedded, there was also some recognition that there was a lack of knowledge about the tools, language and frameworks that engineers can use to incorporate it into the curriculum. Participants also acknowledged the need to draw upon expertise from the humanities and social sciences. The lack of consistent support at a management level was reflected by the number of isolated attempts at including ‘social’ elements. Strong institutional support and culture was deemed necessary for the use of integrated approaches involving contextualized project-based learning and ‘re-build’ strategies. Accreditation was generally thought to enable the incorporation of ‘social’, but concerns were raised regarding the inconsistencies in the approach taken by different Professional Engineering Institutions, as well as individual accreditation committee members. Some participants discussed feeling isolated and invisible during their attempts to introduce social content into an environment in which their views were not validated. 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spelling	2023-03-06T14:30:39.0694643 v2 62650 2023-02-13 A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation 278e26fd08e48be36f39790aeaff666f 0000-0002-5870-9659 Patricia Xavier Patricia Xavier true false 5be5dcc4b97c78b3063e258add4fff5c Natalie Wint Natalie Wint true false 3f789f835a3e7270111a77db960eb79c Gabrielle Orbaek White Gabrielle Orbaek White true false 2023-02-13 ACEM The bodies responsible for the accreditation of engineering degree schemes are placing increasing emphasis on the need for students to demonstrate an awareness of the social context in which engineering is practiced. As a result, a growing number of engineering educators will soon find themselves on a journey towards interpreting what ‘social’ means in the context of engineering education. This chapter aims to provide a contemporary snapshot of the status of this journey. Semi-structured interviews were used to provide information about (1) how educators within UK higher education interpret ‘social’ within the context of engineering education (2) areas within courses and programs where ‘social’ has been incorporated (3) the external (accreditation bodies) and internal (academic institutions) factors that influence the process involved. Participants included individuals engaged in incorporating social aspects into engineering degree schemes and/or with the accreditation process. They ranged from module coordinators to those involved in creating the latest version of learning outcomes on behalf of the Engineering Council in the UK. Data underwent thematic and semantic analysis and drew upon a framework that lays out the contending modes of engineering education and strategies for curriculum change. Findings indicate that ‘social’ has a wide variety of meanings and implications within the context of engineering education. Although there was agreement that the topic needed to be further embedded, there was also some recognition that there was a lack of knowledge about the tools, language and frameworks that engineers can use to incorporate it into the curriculum. Participants also acknowledged the need to draw upon expertise from the humanities and social sciences. The lack of consistent support at a management level was reflected by the number of isolated attempts at including ‘social’ elements. Strong institutional support and culture was deemed necessary for the use of integrated approaches involving contextualized project-based learning and ‘re-build’ strategies. Accreditation was generally thought to enable the incorporation of ‘social’, but concerns were raised regarding the inconsistencies in the approach taken by different Professional Engineering Institutions, as well as individual accreditation committee members. Some participants discussed feeling isolated and invisible during their attempts to introduce social content into an environment in which their views were not validated. Successfully enacted strategies for curriculum change management, as well as opportunities for those interested in the incorporation of ‘social’ within engineering education, are discussed. Book chapter Philosophy of Engineering and Technology 42 65 92 Springer International Publishing Cham 9783031116001 9783031116018 1879-7202 1879-7210 Accreditation; Engineering education; Social responsibility; Social context; Engineering ethics; Engineering identity 17 1 2023 2023-01-17 10.1007/978-3-031-11601-8_4 COLLEGE NANME Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering COLLEGE CODE ACEM Swansea University 2023-03-06T14:30:39.0694643 2023-02-13T09:03:41.7556840 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Uncategorised Patricia Xavier 0000-0002-5870-9659 1 Natalie Wint 2 Gabrielle Orbaek White 3
title	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation
spellingShingle	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation Patricia Xavier Natalie Wint Gabrielle Orbaek White
title_short	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation
title_full	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation
title_fullStr	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation
title_full_unstemmed	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation
title_sort	A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation
author_id_str_mv	278e26fd08e48be36f39790aeaff666f 5be5dcc4b97c78b3063e258add4fff5c 3f789f835a3e7270111a77db960eb79c
author_id_fullname_str_mv	278e26fd08e48be36f39790aeaff666f_*_Patricia Xavier 5be5dcc4b97c78b3063e258add4fff5c__Natalie Wint 3f789f835a3e7270111a77db960eb79c_**_Gabrielle Orbaek White
author	Patricia Xavier Natalie Wint Gabrielle Orbaek White
author2	Patricia Xavier Natalie Wint Gabrielle Orbaek White
format	Book chapter
container_title	Philosophy of Engineering and Technology
container_volume	42
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institution	Swansea University
isbn	9783031116001 9783031116018
issn	1879-7202 1879-7210
doi_str_mv	10.1007/978-3-031-11601-8_4
publisher	Springer International Publishing
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
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description	The bodies responsible for the accreditation of engineering degree schemes are placing increasing emphasis on the need for students to demonstrate an awareness of the social context in which engineering is practiced. As a result, a growing number of engineering educators will soon find themselves on a journey towards interpreting what ‘social’ means in the context of engineering education. This chapter aims to provide a contemporary snapshot of the status of this journey. Semi-structured interviews were used to provide information about (1) how educators within UK higher education interpret ‘social’ within the context of engineering education (2) areas within courses and programs where ‘social’ has been incorporated (3) the external (accreditation bodies) and internal (academic institutions) factors that influence the process involved. Participants included individuals engaged in incorporating social aspects into engineering degree schemes and/or with the accreditation process. They ranged from module coordinators to those involved in creating the latest version of learning outcomes on behalf of the Engineering Council in the UK. Data underwent thematic and semantic analysis and drew upon a framework that lays out the contending modes of engineering education and strategies for curriculum change. Findings indicate that ‘social’ has a wide variety of meanings and implications within the context of engineering education. Although there was agreement that the topic needed to be further embedded, there was also some recognition that there was a lack of knowledge about the tools, language and frameworks that engineers can use to incorporate it into the curriculum. Participants also acknowledged the need to draw upon expertise from the humanities and social sciences. The lack of consistent support at a management level was reflected by the number of isolated attempts at including ‘social’ elements. Strong institutional support and culture was deemed necessary for the use of integrated approaches involving contextualized project-based learning and ‘re-build’ strategies. Accreditation was generally thought to enable the incorporation of ‘social’, but concerns were raised regarding the inconsistencies in the approach taken by different Professional Engineering Institutions, as well as individual accreditation committee members. Some participants discussed feeling isolated and invisible during their attempts to introduce social content into an environment in which their views were not validated. Successfully enacted strategies for curriculum change management, as well as opportunities for those interested in the incorporation of ‘social’ within engineering education, are discussed.
published_date	2023-01-17T08:19:14Z
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score	11.070971

A Snapshot of How ‘Social’ Considerations Are Currently Being Interpreted and Addressed Within Engineering Education and Accreditation

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