Integrating the Humanities and Global Engineering

FAIN: AKA-270141-20

Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040)
Lori Czerwiokna (Project Director: September 2019 to March 2024)
Eric A. Nauman (Co Project Director: March 2020 to March 2024)

A curricular development project integrating the humanities with global engineering through an expanded program of language and cultural study.

This project expands the role of humanities in undergraduate education at Purdue by integrating language and cultural studies with global engineering. The project has four initiatives, an engineering design course linking engineering and cultural analyses, a research course in which students use a second language and apply humanistic-engineering skills in an internship abroad, a speaker series and associated hands-on academic activities that join cross-disciplinary programs, and a redesign of both pre- and post-internship abroad workshops based on our framework. Purdue, a world leader in engineering education and well-known for cross disciplinary humanities programs, is the ideal institution to highlight the professional and societal value of the humanities. This project will give students a unique set of analytical skills, shape the future practices of global engineering industries, and impact the broader society that will benefit from culturally-relevant engineering solutions.

Associated Products

A Comparison of Two Scenario-Based Assessments of Systems Thinking (Article)
Title: A Comparison of Two Scenario-Based Assessments of Systems Thinking
Author: Joshi, S.S.
Author: Davis, K. A.
Author: Czerwionka, L.
Author: Camps Troncoso, E.
Author: Montalvo, F.
Abstract: Engineers face complex and multidisciplinary problems in the modern work environment. To understand and solve these complex problems, engineers require systems thinking skills that allow them to consider the interconnected technical and contextual factors. Therefore, it is important to provide engineering students with opportunities to develop these skills during their education. A part of this process is developing assessment approaches that can help instructors measure students’ systems thinking ability. A variety of approaches have been used in the literature to assess the development of systems thinking, including surveys, interviews, design projects, and scenario-based instruments. Scenario-based assessments can offer a more in-depth view of student learning than typical surveys while also being faster to analyze than open-ended data such as interviews. However, a range of scenario-based assessments that are available claim to assess similar skills, making it challenging to identify which fits the needs of a particular educational context. To help address this challenge, we compared two scenario-based assessments: the Village of Abeesee scenario [1] and the Energy Conversion Playground (ECP) design task [2], to understand concepts of systems thinking emphasized by each instrument and how students’ scores on the assessments are related. The participants in this study were 19 undergraduate engineering students enrolled in an interdisciplinary humanities-based engineering course in Spring 2021. We administered both scenario-based assessments at the start and end of the semester to examine the change in students’ scores over time. We then compared the assessment results from each instrument by examining average scores for each of the systems thinking dimensions and also individual total scores on each assessment. Lastly, we compared the experience of scoring the assessments from the perspective of the instructor or researcher using the assessment. Based on our find
Year: 2022
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: ASEE Annual Conference Content Access

Integrating the Humanities with Engineering through a Global Case Study Course (Article)
Title: Integrating the Humanities with Engineering through a Global Case Study Course
Author: Davis, K. A.
Author: Joshi, S. S.
Author: Czerwionka, L.
Author: Montalvo, F.
Author: Ríios-Rojas, G. O.
Author: Tort, J.
Author: William, J.
Author: Nauman, E.
Abstract: As the world becomes more connected and globalized, the problems that engineers are called upon to solve are increasingly complex and interdependent. Research on engineering work has suggested that professional engineers address open-ended, illstructured problems that are situated in specific contexts (Bornasal et al., 2018; Stevens et al., 2014). Unfortunately, engineering coursework has traditionally focused on abstract and closed-ended problem solving, offering few opportunities for students to develop these skills (Jonassen, 2014). Building on prior work, our project explored whether integrating engineering with the humanities could help students develop a better understanding of contextual influences in engineering work as operationalized through the lens of systems thinking. In this practice paper, we argue for the importance of integrating the humanities and engineering to understand the multiple and intersecting layers of context in an engineering project. We then describe the Humanities-Informed Engineering Projects course, which we developed to help students acquire this perspective. The course was piloted in Spring 2021 in response to the obstacles to international and community engineering experiences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, we share preliminary assessment data on the development of systems thinking over the course. This pedagogical description and assessment project contributes to the understanding of the development of systems thinking and it also provides empirical evidence about the potential benefits of integrating the humanities and engineering in the classroom (Edmondson et al., 2020; Hynes & Swenson, 2013; Pavlica et al., 2020).
Year: 2021
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of International Engineering Education, 3(1), 1–24.

Developing students’ understanding of context through a humanities-informed engineering course (Web Resource)
Title: Developing students’ understanding of context through a humanities-informed engineering course
Author: Davis, K. A.
Author: Joshi, S. S.
Author: Czerwionka, L.
Author: Montalvo, F.
Author: Ríos-Rojas, G.
Abstract: Engineering courses often emphasize abstract and closed-ended problem solving approaches, offering few opportunities for students to develop the skills needed in this new environment. To address this gap, an interdisciplinary team at Purdue University has introduced a course that integrates the humanities with engineering. This article will describe the course structure and assessment results from the first cohort of students.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://www.sefi.be/2022/02/02/developing-students-understanding-of-context-through-a-humanities-informed-engineering-course/

How to Move Forward with Integrating the Humanities with Engineering: An Open Discussion. Speaker and discussion series: Engineering through a humanistic lens (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: How to Move Forward with Integrating the Humanities with Engineering: An Open Discussion. Speaker and discussion series: Engineering through a humanistic lens
Abstract: This presentation formed part of the open discussion with teams from other universities, all who had implemented humanities-engineering curricular activities. Purdue University's team discussed the implementation of a course that integrated the humanities and engineering. We explored how a humanities-informed curriculum can benefit from the analysis of context.
Author: Czerwionka, L.
Author: Peach, N.
Author: Tort, J.
Date: 11/12/2021
Location: Virtual conference

Building Global Learning into the Engineering Curriculum Through an Interdisciplinary Case-Study Based Course. (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Building Global Learning into the Engineering Curriculum Through an Interdisciplinary Case-Study Based Course.
Abstract: In this presentation, we discussed the assessed learning outcomes of a course on global engineering that relied on case-studies.
Author: Montalvo, F.
Author: Czerwionka, L.
Author: Ríos-Rojas, G.
Author: Davis, K. A.
Date: 11/12/2021
Location: 24th Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education (ACIEE) Virtual Conference.

Speaker and discussion series: Engineering through a humanistic lens (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Speaker and discussion series: Engineering through a humanistic lens
Abstract: Session 1: DeBoer, J. Engineering in place: The role of language and communication for problem-solving in situations of forced migration. Session 2: O'Brian, T. S., Karcher, B. & Hendrix, D. (Auburn University), Fogg, S. L. (Missouri University of Science & Technology), Czerwionka, L., Peach, N., & Tort, J. (Purdue University), Berka, S., Echevarria, M., & Mu, B. (University of Rhode Island). How to Move Forward with Integrating the Humanities with Engineering: An Open Discussion. Session 3: Tort, J., Brisch, B., Guaresimo, D., & Loke, P. B. Leveraging humanities-informed engineering skills in industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsU-u6ER1NM
Author: Czerwionka, L.
Date: 11/12/2021
Location: Virtual Conference, Purdue University
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk--qTJ0A6k
Primary URL Description: DeBoer, J. Engineering in place: The role of language and communication for problem-solving in situations of forced migration.
Secondary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca6qM_HQ_gI
Secondary URL Description: O'Brian, T. S., Karcher, B. & Hendrix, D. (Auburn University), Fogg, S. L. (Missouri University of Science & Technology), Czerwionka, L., Peach, N., & Tort, J. (Purdue University), Berka, S., Echevarria, M., & Mu, B. (University of Rhode Island). How to Move Forward with Integrating the Humanities with Engineering: An Open Discussion.

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