The people part of engineering: Engineering for, with, and as people

Abstract

The primary goal of engineering education is to prepare students to work as productive engineers in society. This preparation traditionally focuses on developing students' discipline related technical and analytical knowledge, skills, and abilities. However, recent initiatives to develop a more holistic engineer have shed light on an aspect of engineering education that is largely lacking - the development of essential nontechnical knowledge, skills and abilities. In this paper, we propose a framework for considering the people part of engineering to organize these other kinds of knowledge, skills, and abilities that need to be addressed in engineering education. Informed by scholarly literature on development and learning, the framework presented in this work argues for people as central to engineering. We offer a framework on engineering for, with, and as people. Engineering for people requires a sense of the influences, constraints, and criteria people impose on the design and development of engineering solutions. Engineering with people emphasizes working collaboratively with a diverse group of people. Engineering as a person has one recognize the values, beliefs, knowledge, and skills driving the development of engineered solutions. We present examples of pedagogical strategies to integrate the various "people" skills into engineering courses and programs.