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ERIC Number: EJ1459293
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1069-4730
EISSN: EISSN-2168-9830
Available Date: N/A
Promoting Sociotechnical Perspectives of Engineering during a Summer Bridge Program
Jacob Pleasants; Richard Velasco; Claudia Colonnello; Shansley Glenn; Samuel Crapitto; Kate Raymond; Brandon Abbott
Journal of Engineering Education, v114 n1 e20626 2025
Background: To address complex challenges of modern society, engineering education needs to help students develop sociotechnical perspectives of engineering. Research has documented efforts to incorporate sociotechnical thinking into undergraduate engineering education, but those perspectives must often compete with more dominant technocentric views. Research is needed to investigate how and why students do or do not adopt sociotechnical views. Purpose/Hypothesis(es): In this study, we investigated the extent to which students' views of engineering changed in the context of an Engineering Summer Bridge (ESB) program, in which engineering is promoted as a socially engaged practice. Design/Method: We used a multiple case study methodology to investigate patterns across 24 ESB participants. We gathered multiple sources of data to investigate changes in participants' thinking, including pre/post surveys, weekly reflections during ESB, and follow-up participant interviews. We grouped participants based on the extent to which they added socially engaged perspectives to their perceptions of engineering. We then identified variables associated with those groupings. Results: Approximately one-third of participants added socially engaged perspectives to their views of engineering. These students tended to have fewer prior engineering experiences prior to ESB and often self-identified as having limited prior knowledge of engineering. They were also more likely to hold motivations and interests oriented toward the public good. Conclusions: Our study identifies variables that potentially support and inhibit students' development of socially engaged views of engineering. It highlights the importance of early learning experiences and suggests that technocentric perspectives can be well established even before students begin their undergraduate programs.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A