Thinking Like an Engineer: Using Engineering Habits of Mind and Signature Pedagogies to Redesign Engineering Education

Authors

  • Bill Lucas Centre for Real-World Learning West Downs Campus The University of Winchester SO22 5HT United Kingdom
  • Janet Hanson Centre for Real-World Learning West Downs Campus The University of Winchester SO22 5HT United Kingdom

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v6i2.5366

Keywords:

engineering education, engineering habits of mind, growth mindset, signature pedagogy

Abstract


In order to attract more young people into engineering and ensure that they are well equipped to meet future professional challenges we need to know how successful engineers think and act when faced with challenging problems. Using a mixed methods approach this study investigated the habits of mind that engineers use most frequently when engaged in the core activity of “making” things or “making things work better”. We identified the six most distinctive learning dispositions, or engineering “habits of mind” [EHoM] that engineers frequently deploy. Our research then explored ways in which the teaching of engineering might be re-designed to cultivate EHoM using “signature pedagogies” and through this, generate deeper understanding of what is involved in becoming and being an engineer. This paper reports on the research undertaken with engineers to define the EHoM and identifies some of the distinctive features of signature pedagogies as they might be applied to engineering education. It concludes by outlining future research to further validate and define habits of mind and signature pedagogies for engineering.

Author Biographies

Bill Lucas, Centre for Real-World Learning West Downs Campus The University of Winchester SO22 5HT United Kingdom

B. Lucas is director of the Centre for Real-World Learning and Professor of Learning at the University of Winchester, UK.

Janet Hanson, Centre for Real-World Learning West Downs Campus The University of Winchester SO22 5HT United Kingdom

J. Hanson is a researcher at the Centre for Real-World Learning, University of Winchester, UK

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Published

2016-05-12

How to Cite

Lucas, B., & Hanson, J. (2016). Thinking Like an Engineer: Using Engineering Habits of Mind and Signature Pedagogies to Redesign Engineering Education. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 6(2), pp. 4–13. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v6i2.5366

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Papers