Peripheral or Fundamental? Instructor Perspectives on Integrating Societal Content in Engineering Courses

Abstract

Background: Understanding instructors’ perspectives that shape their decision making related to integrating societal content in their courses is key to informing efforts to ensure engineering training prepares students with the skills and knowledge necessary to account for both technical and social dimensions of complex engineering problems. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study examines the varied ways instructors think about the relevance of societal content to engineering courses and how, if at all, it can or should be integrated in their courses. Design/Method: Drawing on interviews with 21 instructors across 11 engineering departments, we leveraged a composite narrative analysis approach to present nuanced descriptions of the narratives articulated by instructors about their decisions related to the integration of societal content in their courses. Results: Our findings describe five composite narratives that highlight a range of perspectives informing instructors’ decisions about the integration of societal content, ranging from a belief that societal content has no place in engineering coursework to a belief that societal content is inherent in and a necessary consideration for all engineering work. Conclusions: Instructors’ narratives made evident the ways in which technocentric values about engineering work shape decisions about what is taught in engineering courses and how societal content is often weighed against, rather than connected to, technical engineering science content. While many instructors discussed the relevance of societal considerations in engineering, they also described a need for greater support in efforts to implement societal content in their courses.