LESSONS FROM ENGINEERING PHILOSOPHY

Glenys MacLeod
2017 Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA)  
Current educational literature calls for a shift in educational paradigm from a system of facts and tests to a system of curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurialism. Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner defines intelligence for students today as "the ability to solve problems that one encounters in real life, the ability to generate new problems to solve and the ability to make something or offer a service that is valued in one's culture" [2]. Engineers in the field are models of learners for
more » ... fe. They have blended content knowledge, skills and competencies into an intuitive engineering sense. Engineers work collaboratively with others knowing that the best possible solution will be a negotiation between perspectives, boundaries and possibilities. They are flexible in their approach to new tasks, they learn from failures and they welcome uncertainty. Engineers are able to assess a situation, identify a component or process that could be improved, gather data, develop ideas, and create something, an item, process or service that is valued. What might education learn from engineering?
doi:10.24908/pceea.v0i0.7332 fatcat:yed2dtyvozgr3nfbs7advgvmai