Work in progress - Teaching engineering concepts to liberal arts students

Lafayette College, with strong programs in engineering and the liberal arts, requires sophomore students to enroll in a "VaST" (Values and Science/Technology) course. These courses incorporate approaches from the engineering viewpoint and ideas from the social sciences and humanities. As a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in2011 Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) pp. F3J-1 - F3J-4
Main Author Piergiovanni, P. R.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.10.2011
Subjects
Economics
Educational institutions
engineering
hands-on activities
Laboratories
liberal arts
Production
Safety
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Lafayette College, with strong programs in engineering and the liberal arts, requires sophomore students to enroll in a "VaST" (Values and Science/Technology) course. These courses incorporate approaches from the engineering viewpoint and ideas from the social sciences and humanities. As a result of taking a VaST course, students should be better able to see and understand engineering and science as a functioning part of their daily social world. However, in practice, the courses are difficult to develop and populate. This paper describes a course that uses experiential learning to involve liberal arts students in all aspects of the course. The liberal arts students learned basic engineering concepts by using hands-on activities, side-by-side with engineering students.
ISBN:1612844685
9781612844688
ISSN:0190-5848
2377-634X
DOI:10.1109/FIE.2011.6142855