Evaluating innovations in teaching about engineering in society

Abstract

An understanding of the social and human dimensions of engineering are increasingly recognised as vital for the engineering graduates of the future. However, such skills are challenging to teach and assess. One subject at an Australian university has sought to address this, but in recent years has suffered from poor student feedback and declining enrolments. In early 2022, the subject underwent substantial revisions, with changes to the online content, assessment, and pedagogical design of the synchronous online classes. In this paper, these changes are briefly described, along with an evaluation. Although student feedback was very positive, there was no compelling evidence for attitudinal shifts in how students perceived the relationship between engineering and society.