What’s wrong with engineering education? Comparing and combining a teaching-problematization and a culture-problematization

What’s wrong with engineering education? Comparing and combining a teaching-problematization and a culture-problematization

While much has been said about what is wrong with engineering education, the assumptions we make when we talk about educational problems often remain hidden. This is the case for teachers and researchers alike. One thing is clear, however: when talking about how engineering education can develop, we usually focus on using better teaching methods in order to get more learning. In this thesis, I interrogate the idea that inadequate teaching methods is what primarily stands between us and good engineers. Simultaneously, I explore an alternative hypothesis, that cultural patterns within engineering education is as much to blame – if not more – in producing educational problems. Through sharing my research undertaken in a number of different engineering classrooms, I show how both teaching methods and cultural processes may serve as barriers to engineering learning. This means that if we engineering education researchers want to help in improving engineering education, we may do well to shift our focus from teaching methods to also investigate local patterns of social interaction and shared ways of thinking. Furthermore, if we want to facilitate a more transparent discussion about educational development, we would do well to clarify the value-judgements we make when talking about what we think is wrong with engineering education.