An approach to undergraduate engineering education for the 21st century

The complexity inherent in the newest technologies as well as the complexity inherent in the multiplicity and diversity of societal needs and perspectives in relation to those technologies calls for a new approach to undergraduate engineering education. We believe this new approach requires a paradigmatic shift from a linear reductionist mindset to a nonlinear holistic mindset. To accomplish such a shift in undergraduate engineering education we propose a new context, new content and new pedagogy to reinforce the context and content. The latter includes the concept of praxis, a set of personal, group and professional practices, which have the goals of internalizing knowledge, enhancing self-awareness and embodying the values of a new integrated culture of engineering. We believe that the program advocated in this paper can be implemented within the constraints of the normal 4 year curriculum by utilizing the ABET humanities and ethics requirements more effectively.