Dean Nieusma, RPI
Donna Riley, Virginia Tech
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This paper investigates a range of approaches to ELE integration identifying the strategic and conceptual dimensions that drive them and some of their associated underlying assumptions. The analysis will start by providing a mapping of diverse ELE approaches, organized according to implementation modalities, pedagogical frameworks, and learning goals. Drawing on theoretical insights from STS and Engineering Studies, the paper will then consider how various ELE approaches manifest or resist (or both) some of the conceptual trappings of traditional engineering epistemologies, such as those around positivism, instrumentalism, technical-social dualisms, and depoliticization. The paper’s empirical material will be drawn primarily from current and proposed engineering programs that explicitly highlight ELE integration. However, select content will also be drawn from participation in and proceedings of Union College’s annual Engineering and Liberal Education Symposium, ASEE Liberal Education/Engineering and Society Division, and the related set of initiatives around the theme of engineering and social justice.