Liberal Studies in Engineering - Workshop Report
Support for this event was provided by the National Science Foundation’s Improving Under- graduate STEM Education program (award no.1451399 made to MIT), by the Teagle Foundation, and by the Deans of MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and of Claremont Graduate University’s School of Educational Studies.
An Integrative Education in Engineering and the Liberal Arts: An Institutional Case Study
We describe the nearly 50-year history of a unique A.B. degree program in Engineering Studies. The program was created at Lafayette College in 1970 with the goal of producing graduates who could bridge the gap between engineering and the liberal arts; its current mission is to engage students in engineering as a liberal art, recognizing the increasingly complex challenges of sociotechnical systems and examining these systems through multi disciplinary perspectives. The program helps students gain expertise in examining the place of engineering and technology in society, with interdisciplinary skills to lead public technology debates around issues related to policy, management, economics, and the environment. In this paper, we describe the evolution of the program’s mission and curriculum in the context of higher education trends and societal and historical movements as well as some of the challenges faced by the program. Such a program may provide a useful case study in achieving the interdisciplinary, sociotechnical goals articulated by the NAE and others, and in broadening participation in engineering education. We consider both the transferability of our approach to other institutional contexts, and its sustainability in our own.
Science fairs as learning tool for teaching excellence
Science fairs are usually considered to be a pedagogical and cultural activity that involves the students actively. Gifted students need challenges to further develop their skills while maintaining the motivation level. Science fairs may provide the informal environment that will request and allow these students of excellence to challenge themselves by developing a scientific research project. Despite being well known in different countries, in Portugal first steps are being made on the use and implementation of science fairs as effective pedagogical tool. In this work, we will present a 4 years study that was developed on a Portuguese school with the main goal of evaluating the advantages of this informal way of teaching. The study includes an analysis of the evolution of the students’ knowledge that have participated, or visited, the different science fairs. Some advices for the implementation of these projects will be given. The motivation of the students was monitored as well as the knowledge and skills effectively improved by this activity.