Knowledge, Skill, and Wisdom: Reflections on Integrating the Social Sciences and Engineering

Abstract

This paper develops two themes. First, I argue that to improve engineering education we need to think about the nature of engineering practice. I suggest that engineering practice embraces three components: knowledge (facts, theories, and data), skill (knowing how to use knowledge), and wisdom (knowing when to apply different skills). This epistemological framework is useful in determining what we hope to accomplish by including more of the social sciences in engineering curricula. Second, drawing on this framework, I describe how my colleagues and I in the Engineering and Society Department teach concepts from the social sciences and Science, Technology, and Society to undergraduate engineering students in order to develop their potential as leaders, entrepreneurs, and designers. In particular, I offer 3–4 concepts that we develop in our courses about communications in engineering, the interaction of technology and society, and engineering ethics. Overall, I want to describe the ways by which we have made the social sciences integral to the education of engineers at the University of Virginia and how our practices can contribute to reconception of engineering as a profession.