Minors as a Means of Developing Technological and Engineering Literacy for Non-engineers

Minors as a Means of Developing Technological and Engineering Literacy for Non‐Engineers While the integration of engineering concepts into a undergraduate education has long been promoted as desirable, the means to accomplish this integration have been limited. Work is underway which aims to develo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAssociation for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers p. 25.939.1
Main Authors Krupczak, John, Mani Mina, Gustafson, Robert J, Young, James F, VanderStoep, Scott
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published Atlanta American Society for Engineering Education-ASEE 10.06.2012
Subjects
Certificates
Colleges & universities
Engineering
Engineering education
Engineers
Literacy
Students
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Summary:Minors as a Means of Developing Technological and Engineering Literacy for Non‐Engineers While the integration of engineering concepts into a undergraduate education has long been promoted as desirable, the means to accomplish this integration have been limited. Work is underway which aims to develop minors or certificates to be offered by engineering departments as an approach to developing technological competence in non‐engineers. Minors or certificates provide a recognized credential deemed attractive by many students. A collaboration between w State University, x State University, y College, and z University is developing concepts and resources to support model engineering minors or certificates which can be adopted efficiently and widely within American higher education. This work is developing a set of Technological Literacy Outcomes for such a minor. These outcomes are similar in concept to the ABET a‐k outcomes that are used for engineering degrees, but are broader in scope and focus on developing broadly technologically literate and empowered citizens. A standard set of outcomes rather than a prescribed series of courses, will allow flexibility for each institution to develop minors or certificates that are best suited to its local conditions. Included in this work are examples of courses offered by engineering departments for non‐engineering students and descriptions of engineering literacy minor programs from a range of institutions. Results from surveys of non‐engineering students regarding factors influencing potential interest in engineering literacy minors or certificates will also be presented. Data obtained from potential employers regarding the perception of the value of engineering‐literacy certificates and minors will be discussed. Results of testing to determine gains in engineering‐related skills by non‐engineers will be reviewed.