Learning by 'design': how undergraduates in Singapore learn to become engineers

• Published in: Children's geographies Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 27 - 38
• Main Authors: Chia, Arthur C. K., Cho, Mihye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: aspiration; Creativity; Curricula; Engineering; Engineering Education; Engineering Technology; Influence of Technology; knowledge-based economy; Learning; learning as becoming; Singapore; subject formation; University students; Singapore
• ISSN: 1473-3285; 1473-3277
• DOI: 10.1080/14733285.2017.1303444

In this paper, we explore the evolving norms and dispositions of creativity and enterprise of engineering students using data gathered from a newly established technology and engineering-focused university called 'UniTech' located in Singapore. Based on interviews with students, we seek to explain (1) what they learn, reject, adopt and appropriate; (2) the kinds of challenges they face and (3) the unexpected and serendipitous outcomes of their learning. Through an integrated engineering curriculum focusing on design, students learn to be technically competent, creative and entrepreneurial persons. This paper considers how the curriculum works as a set of formal procedures preparing students for a future 'knowledge-based economy' imagined to be technology-intensive, dynamic and filled with opportunities but also increasingly uncertain. We analyse how students at UniTech negotiate this design-focused curriculum where experiences of creativity, open-ended possibilities and holistic perspectives intersect with the national economic agenda of a knowledge-based economy.