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Engagement in Practice Paper: Engineering Students vs. Geological Risk in the Gold Supply Chain: Using Geological Risk in Gold Mining Communities to Overcome Technical Instrumentalism among Engineering Students

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Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

Engineers and Communities: Critical Reflections of Challenges, Opportunities, and Practices of Engaging Each Other

Tagged Division

Community Engagement Division

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--32707

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/32707

Download Count

390

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Paper Authors

biography

Elizabeth Reddy Colorado School of Mines

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Elizabeth Reddy is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Division of Engineering, Design & Society at Colorado School of Mines. She is a social scientist, holding a PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of California at Irvine and an MA in Social Science from the University of Chicago. She is Co-Chair of the Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology and Computing in the American Anthropological Association. She studies experts and their work in relation to environments, technologies, and human lives. Her current research projects deal with earthquake risk management technology in Mexico and the United States, environmental data justice in the US/Mexican borderlands, and the development and practice of engineering expertise.

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biography

Juan C. Lucena Colorado School of Mines

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Juan Lucena is Professor and Director of Humanitarian Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM). Juan obtained a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from Virginia Tech and a MS in STS and BS in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). His books include Defending the Nation: U.S. Policymaking to Create Scientists and Engineers from Sputnik to the ‘War Against Terrorism’ (University Press of America, 2005), Engineering and Sustainable Community Development (Morgan &Claypool, 2010), and Engineering Education for Social Justice: Critical Explorations and Opportunities (Springer, 2013).

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Abstract

Engagement in Practice Paper developed for Engagement in Practice Session: Engineers and Communities: Critical Reflections of Challenges, Opportunities, and Best (Worst) Practices of Engaging Each Other

Student engineers need both excellent technical training and critical skills to put their training to its best uses. At Colorado School of Mines we are experimenting with a series of learning experiences to help students use their technical skills thoughtfully and overcome technical instrumentalism, which we define as the idea that technical skills alone can solve all the practical problems that they encounter. In these experiences, students work with members of Colombian artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) communities and Colombian students to address geological hazards that endanger miners. This sequenced set of experiences was designed so that students would engage with communities to better understand the complex social, technical, and environmental risks that miners confront and then propose and, in some cases, develop projects to reduce those risks. In this paper we describe the first two phases of this experience. Further research on this learning experience will be necessary to understand its effects for all parties involved.

Reddy, E., & Lucena, J. C. (2019, June), Engagement in Practice Paper: Engineering Students vs. Geological Risk in the Gold Supply Chain: Using Geological Risk in Gold Mining Communities to Overcome Technical Instrumentalism among Engineering Students Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32707

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