Engineering Design as a Liberal Art: A First-Semester Introduction to Design Thinking

First-year students are introduced to engineering design as a socio-technical mode of engagement. The new course in Design Thinking, taught within the structure of a required (for engineers) "Introduction to Engineering'' framework, develops a socio-technical understanding of engineering and design. This perspective follows from innovations in engineering pedagogy. The course establishes engineering design as a component of the liberal arts in two ways: first, sharing creative, innovative, and cultural elements with other liberal arts disciplines; and, second, being a mode of inquiry and building understanding of the world. Like other Introductions to Engineering, this course provides a cornerstone design experience, and involves first year students in an engineering design environment that emphasizes collaboration, communication, and interdisciplinarity. More uniquely, this Introduction to Engineering module introduces design as a method not simply of problem solving, but of problem defining by applying design thinking, through the development of empathy with all stakeholders and interrogation of their (geographical, social, cultural, environmental, etc.) context. Following this introduction, students-no matter what major they pursue-may integrate design thinking into the array of perspectives and methods that comprise a liberal education. The development, implementation, assessment, refinement & evolution of this approach to this introduction to design thinking at Lafayette College are described. Although this work has been performed in the context of a liberal arts college, both methods and results suggest opportunities for educators at larger schools and traditional engineering institutions to structure an introduction to engineering design with a core of socio-technical concepts.