Making Technological Paradigm Shifters: Myths And Reality
Date
2002-06-16
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American Society for Engineering Education
Abstract
During the second half of the 20th century, teaching technology to the engineering freshmen has
posed tremendous challenges. The main challenge can be summarized in the following question:
What can we teach the freshmen in engineering disciplines that will be useful and instructive for
their future? In many introductory courses teaching practical tools can be risky. The fear is to
have obsolete tools by the time the students graduate. Consequently, in many schools during the
last few decades of the 20th century, the emphasis has been on mathematical and scientific
concepts. Such an approach would build a good foundation for the future classes. It would also
be a fundamental concept that will remain the same by the time the students graduate. Finally,
with that approach from the first class the serious and intellectually capable students would be
encouraged to stay with the program and the rest to change fields. In fact, this approach sounds
attractive to many of my colleagues, especially those who are focusing on having “strong”
(which mostly means mathematically capable) students in senior-level classes. However, it is
not the most effective pedagogical approach. The problem my colleagues are facing with
students’ backgrounds and preparation is not exactly due to lack of mathematic capability, but
due to lack of interest. Careful observation of our undergraduate students shows that a good
number of engineering students have been either overwhelmed or even discouraged out of the
programs due to the heavy emphasis on pure mathematical approaches and very little hands-on
teaching. The author believes that this method has affected many students’ performance,
creativity, and interest in the field.
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ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: Mina, M. (2002, June), "Making Technological Paradigm Shifters: Myths And Reality." Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11240.
Copyright 2002 American Society for Engineering Education.
Posted with permission.