Abstract
Over the last few decades, scientists exploring the aspects of engineering education and investigating the strong connection between the engineering profession and society have argued for a more rounded, holistic approach to the engineering curriculum. In addition to fundamental technical subjects, they have proposed the inclusion of a broad range of social subjects in order to equip young engineers with social and communication skills relevant for teamwork, and to enhance their awareness about both the way social changes influence the implementation of certain engineering solutions and about the way develop-ments in engineering have a considerable impact on society in general. This paper presents the results of a two-year qualitative study of the importance of social subjects within the engineering academic curriculum at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Ar-chitecture in Zagreb, Croatia.
Highlights
Engineering educators have proposed a number of changes in the outlook of the predominant scheme of engineering curricula
Engineering educators and various institutions responsible for the integrity of the engineering profession have welcome the changes in engineering curricula with enthusiasm
These changes imply a shift towards a new paradigm of engineering and engineering education
Summary
Engineering educators have proposed a number of changes in the outlook of the predominant scheme of engineering curricula. During the 1990s, a number of engineers expressed their support for reform of engineering education towards More speci cally, they argued for a more rounded curriculum, which would be directed towards developing practical knowledge, as well as knowledge of non-technical, social subjects. One of the reasons why engineers fail to promote their own ideas and goals to society is because they do not possess suf cient knowledge of the social aspect of their engineering activities (knowledge of social trends, social needs, and changes in politics and the economy) (Beder, 1999) This general knowledge is what Charles Wright Mills (2000) would call “social imagination”. Besides such a general understanding of society and the social system, engineering students need certain practical skills which can be taught in lectures that concentrate on non-technical subjects and are incorporated into engineering education programs
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