Contextualization courses for engineering students based on sociotechnical thinking

Abstract

Engineering education faces grand challenges to contextualize societal issues for students. This paper evaluates the contribution of contextualization courses for engineering students based on sociotechnical thinking. Sociotechnical thinking articulates engineering work with social concerns, explicit engineers positionality, and diverse human and non-human actors perspectives. The courses are inspired by a worldwide effort of Engineering, Technology and Society Education. Focus groups based on students reported contributions to understand technology as a human phenomenon, a social constructed system and a dynamic relationship between artifacts, organization, and culture. These courses improve argumentative tools and analytical capacity linked to a wider perspective for design and management technology, and made it possible to enhance situated knowledge on the practice of engineering with conscious social impact.