Development of Tasks with Art Elements for Teaching Engineers in English for Specific Purposes Classroom

Abstract

This article defines the modern interdisciplinary trends in engineering and the collaboration of engineering with other sciences. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts (STEAM) approach has been chosen as suitable for teaching engineers in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classroom. The authors created different tasks with art elements in teaching ESP. The topics of the tasks are: material properties, environmental/global sustainability issues, human factors engineering, employment of engineers, and engineering education. Scaffolding, appropriate time management, cooperation, creative atmosphere, native materials are the conditions for the effective usage of the tasks within STEAM approach. The results of the pedagogical experiment in 2019 at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” (Igor Sikorsky KPI) amongst 30 chemical engineers proved the improvement of language skills and other skills of the 21 century such as cooperation, digital, problem-solving, creative thinking. An anonymous questionnaire confirmed students’ positive perception of the STEAM approach.