Special Session – Can Philosophy of
Engineering Education Improve the
Practice of Engineering Education?
John Heywood, Karl Smith, Roy McGrann
Special Session
2007 Frontiers in Education Conference
Thursday, October 11, 8:00 am - 9:30 am
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Session Overview
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Purpose of Session
Background story
Desired outcomes
Engagement questions
Personal reflection on philosophy of engineering
education
• Sub group and whole group dialogue
• Lingering questions
• Continuing conversations?
Recent Background Story
• Engineering philosophy interest (especially in Europe)
– Carl Mitcham - The Importance of Philosophy to Engineering
(Techne, 1998)
– Billy Koen – Discussion of the method (Oxford U Press, 2003)
– Larry Bucciarelli – Engineering Philosophy (Delft U Press, 2003)
– William Grimson – The Philosophical Nature of Engineering - A
characterization of Engineering using the language and activities of
Philosophy (ASEE Annual Conference, 2006)
• 2003 – Smith JEE Academic Bookshelf column on Educational
Philosophy
• 2005 – Heywood Engineering Education: Research and Development
in Curriculum and Instruction section on Philosophy and Sociology
• 2006 – Purdue & Virginia Tech Departments of Engineering
Education PhD programs with Engineering Education philosophy
courses
• Ongoing – Heywood, McGrann, Smith & others conversation on
philosophy of engineering education
Desired Outcomes
• Reflection and dialogue on engineering
philosophy and engineering education
philosophy
• Deepen understanding of role of
philosophy in engineering education
• Identify community of interested
participants
• Develop list of resources
Questions
– Is the philosophy of engineering well enough
understood to develop a philosophy of engineering
education?
– How might a philosophy of engineering education
align with a philosophy of engineering?
– What can a philosophy of engineering education
resolve regarding the tension between content and
learning?
– How can a philosophy of engineering ed improve the
professional practice of engineering?
– What is the distinction between philosophy of
engineering and cognitive science of engineering?
– How can our colleagues in education help develop
philosophy of engineering education?
Questions
– Is there a single philosophy of engineering or do
extremes require separate philosophies?
– How is philosophy of engineering education different
from other educational fields’ philosophies?
– What can philosophy of engineering education learn
from other philosophies of education?
– How does the philosophy of education influence the
assessment of it?
– What hidden current or official knowledge does
engineering education embody?
Questions
– Are there geographic variations in philosophy of
engineering education?
– How does the philosophy of education relate the
theoretical to the practice of engineering?
– How do you convince “engineers” that teach that a
philosophy of engineering education is significant?
– How do the objectives of engineering modify the
philosophy of engineering as opposed to the
philosophy of science?
– What is the reality of education in the academy?
– How do we know what we know?
– What are the values that inform or discussion?
Questions
– What range of operating philosophy of engineering
education if they were made explicit?
Our Questions
– What is your philosophy of engineering?
– What is your teaching or engineering student
learning philosophy?
– How apparent or explicit were your
professor’s answers to these questions in
your undergraduate program?
Sub Group Dialogue
• Form groups of 3-4 by joining with others
interested in a similar question
• Select a scribe
• Give each person a chance to contribute
his or her ideas on the question
• Listen for similarities and differences
among the contributions
• Prepare a summary/synthesis of
contributions
Sub Groups (8)
1. Philosophy and Assessment. What to do
when you don’t know what to do?
2. What is the role of the engineer?
3. What is the ontological and epistemological
relationship between theories of behavior,
values and beliefs, and their underlying
assumption?
4. Could a philosophy of engineering education
release the tension between content and
practice? (Provide a philosophy that
practitioners can adopt.)
Sub Groups (cont.)
5. How can we communicate about the
philosophy of engineering education with
potentially resistive peers?
6. What is taken for granted in the language we
use? Who decides? Who is left out?
Should we be discussing philosophies of
engineering education?
7. What is philosophy of engineering education?
How is it related to philosophy of science?
How is engineering different?
8. Is the philosophy of engineering education
different from the philosophy of education? Is
science education different from engineering
education?
Whole Group Dialogue
Questions
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