Systematically Integrating Liberal Education in a Transdisciplinary Design Studio Environment
- Conference
- Location
-
Columbus, Ohio
- Publication Date
-
June 24, 2017
- Start Date
-
June 24, 2017
- End Date
-
June 28, 2017
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
Liberal Education/Engineering & Society
- Page Count
-
19
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--28901
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/28901
- Download Count
-
674
Paper Authors
Marisa Exter Purdue University
Marisa Exter is an Assistant Professor of Learning Design and Technology in the College of Education at Purdue University. Dr. Exter’s research aims to provide recommendations to improve or enhance university-level design and technology programs (such as Instructional Design, Computer Science, and Engineering). Some of her previous research has focused on software designers’ formal and non-formal educational experiences and use of precedent materials, and experienced instructional designers’ beliefs about design character. These studies have highlighted the importance of cross-disciplinary skills and student engagement in large-scale, real-world projects.
Dr. Exter currently leads an effort to evaluate a new multidisciplinary degree program which provides both liberal arts and technical content through competency-based experiential learning.
Iryna Ashby Purdue University
Iryna Ashby is a Ph.D student in the Learning Design and Technology Program at Purdue University with the research interests focused on competency-based education and assessment, micro-credentialing, and program evaluation. She is also part of the program evaluation team for the Transdisciplinary Studies in Technology – a new undergraduate CBE program at Purdue Polytechnic.
Colin M. Gray
Purdue University
orcid.org/0000-0002-7307-1550
Colin M. Gray is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology and a Fellow in the Educational Research and Development Incubator. He holds a PhD in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington, a MEd in Educational Technology from University of South Carolina, and a MA in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art & Design. His research focuses on the role of student experience in informing a critical design pedagogy, and the ways in which the pedagogy and underlying studio environment inform the development of design thinking, particularly in relation to critique and professional identity formation. His work crosses multiple disciplines, including engineering education, instructional design and technology, design theory and education, and human-computer interaction.
Denise McAllister Wilder NCIDQ Purdue University
Denise McAllister Wilder, NCIDQ is a doctoral student at the Purdue Polytechnic Institute in the School of Construction Management Technology. She has taught and practiced in the architecture, engineering, and construction community for over twenty-five years and is a registered interior designer in Indiana. Her areas of research focus include aging in place, studio learning in a transdisciplinary technology environment, BIM and lighting simulations, smart home technology and aging in place, and retrofitting existing homes to create net zero homes for aging in place.
Terri S. Krause
Purdue University
orcid.org/0000-0001-8471-3929
Terri Krause is a second year PhD student in Learning Design & Technology, a Graduate Research Assistant in Purdue Polytechnic Institute, and is serving on the research and evaluation team for the Transdisciplinary Studies in Technology (TST) program. Her interests include adapting learning experiences for cross-cultural instructional and online instructional environments; with a values-based, ethical focus.
Abstract
Many scholars have cited the importance of integrating humanities and social science content into engineering and technology education, noting the value in building students’ deep competence in communication and interpersonal skills, including an understanding of how technology is intertwined with societal and human needs. However, there is relatively little guidance as to how viewpoints and content from liberal education perspectives might be integrated systematically into a single, transdisciplinary learning experience that allows students to view the world through different lenses from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, locating and synthesizing information crucial to solving interesting and worthwhile problems that may not be obvious from a solely technical or solely humanities perspective. In this paper, we present a case study including multiple iterations of a learning experience that integrates liberal education, design, and technology content and forms the core of an undergraduate transdisciplinary degree program. Using an ethnographic approach, we trace the evolution of students’ and instructors’ perceptions and intentions in relation to integrating liberal education, and document these perspectives through interviews, focus groups, and course observations.
Exter, M., & Ashby, I., & Gray, C. M., & Wilder, D. M., & Krause, T. S. (2017, June), Systematically Integrating Liberal Education in a Transdisciplinary Design Studio Environment Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28901
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2017 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015