Globally Competent Engineer: Working Effectively with People Who Define Problems Differently, The

Journal of Engineering Education, Apr 2006 by Downey, Gary Lee, Lucena, Juan C, Moskal, Barbara M, Parkhurst, Rosamond, Et al

ABSTRACT

This paper offers and tests an approach to conceptualizing the global competency of engineers. It begins by showing that the often-stated goal of working effectively with different cultures is fundamentally about learning to work effectively with people who define problems differently. The paper offers a minimum learning criterion for global competency and three learning outcomes whose achievement can help engineering students fulfill that criterion. It uses the criterion to establish a typology of established methods to support global learning for engineering students. It introduces the course, Engineering Cultures, as an example of an integrated classroom experience designed to enable larger numbers of engineering students to take the critical first step toward global competency, and it offers a test application of the learning criterion and outcomes by using them to organize summative assessments of student learning in the course.

Keywords: global competency, culture, assessment

I. INTRODUCTION

Educational initiatives are currently underway in Australasia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States to better prepare engineering students to function effectively in global environments. Some basic questions that every such initiative must face include: What does it mean for engineers to become globally competent? What counts as global work in engineering? What forms of knowledge or sets of capabilities prepare engineering students for such work? Finally, and most importantly, what sorts of learning experiences are helpful in gaining such knowledge and capabilities?

The analysis presented in this paper addresses the above questions in the following ways. First, it introduces the concept of global competency for engineers and shows that the key achievement in the often-stated goal of working effectively with different cultures is learning to work effectively with people who define problems differently than oneself. Second, it offers a minimum learning criterion for the global competency of engineers and a set of three learning outcomes whose achievement can help engineering students fulfill that criterion. Third, it uses this criterion to establish a typology of established methods in the United States and Europe to support global learning for engineering students as well as to briefly characterize each method. Fourth, it introduces the course, Engineering Cultures, as an example of a type of classroom experience that can enable larger numbers of engineering students to take the critical first step toward global competency. Finally, the paper offers a test application of the learning criterion and learning outcomes by using them to conduct and present summative assessments of student learning in the course at both Virginia Tech (VT) and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), and to discuss the strengths and limitation of this first-step approach in the context of other initiatives and the general problem of global competency.

II. GLOBAL COMPETENCY FOR ENGINEERS

Developing a concept of global competency requires one to address at least two distinct sets of questions. The first might be described as the problem of cultures. The second concerns specifically what achieving global competency adds to learning in engineering education [1-3].

A. The Problem of Cultures

In the United States, the problem of global competency for engineers is often presented as a problem of engaging people from different cultures. For example, Swearengen et al. hold that "to thrive, future engineers will have to be able to work productively with radically different cultures"[4]. At Old Dominion University, the cluster of courses designed to help prepare engineers for global work includes "Communications across Cultures" [S]. The Global Perspective Program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which stands out by providing an international experience for the majority of its graduates, includes as a key evaluation criterion for student reports, "Exposure to Global Issues and/or Foreign Cultures" [6-8]. The Program in Global Engineering at the University of Michigan includes among its main objectives "to appreciate people, culture, and engineering practices of other nations" and "to develop students' capacities for intercultural sensitivity" [9]. Furthermore, Eljamal et al. assert that among the most important outcomes of international experiences for engineering students are "an appreciation for other cultures" and "development of a multicultural perspective" [9].

One general reason for this emphasis on working with different cultures, as explained by U.S. researchers in cross-cultural communication, is that people in the U.S. tend to highlight similarities across cultures while minimizing differences. For example, Milton Bennett, founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute, reports that he "observe[s] in most classroom and workshop environments that difficulties in learning the concepts and skills of intercultural communication are nearly always attributable to a disavowal of cultural difference, not to a lack of appreciating similarity" [10]. Similarly, at the University of Michigan, Mayhew et al. conclude from a pre-test of more than 100 engineering students undertaking intercultural training that "Students minimize differences and focus on the similarities between different cultures" [11].