Speaker: Dr. Robert Grondin | Arizona State University
Coauthors: Dr. Odesma Dalrymple, Dr. Kristine Csavina & Dr. Micah Lande | Arizona State University
The engineering program housed at the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University differs in emphasis from most undergraduate engineering programs in several ways. (1) It is a general or multidisciplinary program in engineering. (2) It features a project spine of eight semesters of project work around which the rest of the degree is organized. (3) It has a set of eight program outcomes organized to encompass all 11 of ABET’s outcomes a- k, with an additional outcome in critical thinking and decision making. (4) The program has approximately a semester of general electives, courses that can be in any subject of the student’s choice: more engineering, more math, more humanities or modern interpretative dance. A consequence of these differences is that the degree could accurately be described as being more liberal in some ways than most engineering degrees.
In the paper we will focus on the critical thinking and decision making outcome of the degree. We will discuss how a project course naturally develops opportunities for the student to engage in critical thinking that are difficult to structure in a course that is defined by its technical content and subject matter. We support the development of these skills with a separate course entitled “Critical Inquiry in Engineering”. This course was developed to satisfy a university wide general studies requirement for Literacy and Critical inquiry, for courses that emphasize writing, speaking and the collection and evaluation of evidence. This course will also be described. Lastly, we will discuss how we evaluate our critical thinking and decision making outcome in the framework of our ABET related program review process.