2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The central problem addressed in this work-in-progress paper is the divide that is there between engineering studies and the humanities in the current engineering curriculum design and pedagogy. Although it has been accepted that the engineering curriculum needs to be complemented with courses in the humanities, in practice, however, the humanities courses are mostly offered as electives. They are taught by humanities faculty who have no background in engineering, and are completely isolated from the rest of the engineering curriculum, resonating with the idea of NOMA (Non-overlapping Magisteria) between the humanities and engineering, a view advocated by the palaeontologist, Stephen Gould with regard to science and religion. It has been argued that this separation of the humanities from engineering, has made it quite difficult for the engineering fraternity to meaningfully contribute to our twenty-first-century society and its needs. The engineering problems of our age have a strong component concerning human traits, values, and ideals. Thus, engineers need to be trained not only in the technological and experimental education concerning the engineering curriculum but also in social and human knowledge and practices. This would enable engineers to understand, empathize with, and respond to the needs of humanity and build solutions that would cater to sustainable and developmental goals of our planet. In the past, elective courses in the humanities have been offered as part of the engineering curriculum, however, even these attempts do not solve the problem as the humanities and engineering courses continue to be siloed and there is no conversation between the engineering and the humanities faculty. In order to have a synergy between the humanities and engineering, there is a need for joint curriculum design and adopting collective pedagogical approaches.

This work-in-progress paper showcases a pedagogical innovation that was employed in a course for first-year engineering students. It introduces a new transdisciplinary course which has been co-designed by faculty belonging to the humanities and technology domains respectively and is also being co-taught using a dialogical teaching model in which a live conversation between both the faculty becomes the medium of course delivery. This paper demonstrates how this change in pedagogy has brought about a change in the engineering students’ perception of the course as well as has exponentially increased their participation in the course. We also show how the use of statistical tools and data from the technology domain to put forward arguments in lectures can go hand-in-hand with the philosophical and theoretical structures provided by the humanities. We establish that the traditional curriculum and pedagogy used by the faculty to teach humanities students will be ineffective in training the engineering students in humanities courses. A reimagination of both curriculum and pedagogy in collaboration with engineering fraternity is necessary if engineering students are to be effectively and meaningfully taught courses in the humanities.