2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In this scholarly discussion, we argue that multiple metaphors for learning naturally arise while teaching engineering topics, and that being aware of them can aid student cognition. (We propose to use this topic for a discussion session, as noted in the CFP.) Many thoughtful faculty have moved away from transmissionist notions of teaching, in which the student is analogous to an empty vessel to be filled or a blank blackboard to be written upon. However, it is still possible to operate out of a dominate metaphor of learning as acquiring a thing, even if the mode of acquiring it is more active. Phrases such as instructors “delivering a lecture,” courses “contain” or “cover” content, and students “grasping a concept” all point to thinking about learning as gaining an object. As Sfard (1998) and others observe, we can also view learning as participating in a practice. This metaphor aligns with engineering mindsets, wherein we often care less about what students know, and more about what they can do with their knowledge. This shift in metaphor suggests that multiple approaches to learning may be needed for different subjects. How do other common metaphors, such as learning as lighting a fire and planting a garden, influence how we teach? Drawing on Ingold’s anthropology of lines (2016), we outline how metaphors such as learning as path-finding and learning as path-making align more precisely with engineering professional practice, as described in Vincenti (1990) and Vermaas (2011). Reviewing the myriad options for characterizing learning, we describe how these metaphors create an instinctive understanding of engineering epistemology, and discuss the implications for engineering teaching practice.