Introducing Engineering As A Socio-Technical Process

This paper describes efforts to introduce engineering as an inherently socio-technical process to engineering and other students at Lafayette College. Our efforts comprise an attempt to present engineering as a component of the liberal arts in two ways: one, that it shares creative, innovative, and cultural elements with other liberal arts disciplines and, two, that it is a mode of inquiry and building understanding of the world. Our approach follows from the view that while engineering as a practice is widely understood to include skills in calculation, design, technical dexterity, communication, imagination, values, and social relations, introductory coursework often focuses on engineering in isolation from the larger socio-technical context that holds those skills together.A focus for these efforts is the piloting of a course introducing first-year students to engineering as a socio-technical mode of engagement. The new course, taught within the structure of a required "Introduction to Engineering" framework, develops a socio-technical concept of technology as a system and engineering as a multi-faceted (not strictly technical) activity. This follows from innovations in engineering pedagogy from decades of STS scholarship, and from the emerging field of engineering studies scholarship. This paper discusses the unique features of this effort at a small liberal arts college, and concludes that the pilot implementation was successful in achieving the desired outcomes. Further, while the authors leveraged institutional advantages, the methods and content should be transferable to other types of institutions.