TY - JOUR
T1 - Using a museum exhibit as a pedagogical tool for developing reflective engineers
AU - Taraban, Roman
AU - Reible, Danny D.
AU - Mesple, David Emile
AU - Donato, Francesco V.
AU - Yeter, Ibrahim Halil
AU - Campbell, Ryan C.
AU - Kim, Jeong Hee
AU - Hoffman, Jill
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Engineering Education, 2017.
PY - 2017/6/24
Y1 - 2017/6/24
N2 - Engineering educators are currently interested in the use of informal learning settings for developing reflective skills in engineers. The present study examined the effects of exposing engineering and non-engineering undergraduates to an exhibit at a university museum that focused on recycling. One goal was to test whether exposure to creative uses of recycled materials in everyday contexts made participants more sensitive to variables associated with reflective thinking in those contexts, like their sense of the utility of the recycled materials, the societal value of the recycled materials, and an appreciation for the process of recycling. A second goal was to test whether participants' interpretation of the exhibit depended on how the experimenter framed recycling issues prior to participants' interactions with the exhibit. The two forms of framing that were applied were a Government-Economy frame and a Community-Environment frame. The results of this study showed that participants' dispositions towards recycling changed after interacting with the exhibit. There was also a clear framing effect on participants' beliefs about recycling. This research study provides one example of the ways in which engineering instructors can use out-of-classroom resources, like museum exhibits, in order to develop more reflective engineers.
AB - Engineering educators are currently interested in the use of informal learning settings for developing reflective skills in engineers. The present study examined the effects of exposing engineering and non-engineering undergraduates to an exhibit at a university museum that focused on recycling. One goal was to test whether exposure to creative uses of recycled materials in everyday contexts made participants more sensitive to variables associated with reflective thinking in those contexts, like their sense of the utility of the recycled materials, the societal value of the recycled materials, and an appreciation for the process of recycling. A second goal was to test whether participants' interpretation of the exhibit depended on how the experimenter framed recycling issues prior to participants' interactions with the exhibit. The two forms of framing that were applied were a Government-Economy frame and a Community-Environment frame. The results of this study showed that participants' dispositions towards recycling changed after interacting with the exhibit. There was also a clear framing effect on participants' beliefs about recycling. This research study provides one example of the ways in which engineering instructors can use out-of-classroom resources, like museum exhibits, in order to develop more reflective engineers.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030570603&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85030570603
SN - 2153-5965
VL - 2017-June
JO - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
JF - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
T2 - 124th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition
Y2 - 25 June 2017 through 28 June 2017
ER -