TEACHING WISDOM AND OTHER SOFT SKILLS WITHIN ENGINEERING CURRICULA Journal Articles uri icon

  •  
  • Overview
  •  
  • Research
  •  
  • Identity
  •  
  • View All
  •  

abstract

  • Engineering accreditation bodies routinelyexamine the state of university engineering programs toensure currency and relevance. Accreditation by theCanadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB)focuses largely on the development of technical skills andcompetencies. While required graduate attributesacknowledge the inclusion of selected “soft skills”, e.g.communications and teamwork, curricular emphasis leansdecidedly in the direction of achieving technical skillsimplying that soft skill development is squeezed in as anafterthought rather than being afforded deliberaterecognition. Indeed, rapid growth of technologicaldevelopment as well as including content required byregulatory agencies (e.g. health and safety), points towardeven greater pressure to marginalize soft skills, whichparadoxically, seasoned engineering managers look for intheir hires and those considered for promotion.In addition to basic communications and teamwork,important soft skills and competencies include: creativity,collaboration, instilment of a sense of wonder/curiosity,learning to learn, lifelong learning, reading withcomprehension, thinking skills, and the infusion of wisdomto design, problem solving and decision making.Including soft skills development presents a challenge formost engineering professors, often because their owneducation was focused almost exclusively on technicalmaterial. Given this situation and evolving curricularpressures, the challenge becomes identifying ways andmeans of introducing the teaching of wisdom toengineering students.This paper focuses on one particular soft skill: wisdom, aconcept which can be difficult even to define, let aloneconvey/teach. Engineering professors must think throughwhat is meant by wisdom, structure opportunities for theconsideration of wisdom in design/decision makingsituations and develop methods for evaluating theapplication of wisdom – all within existing curricularconstraints. Practical suggestions are advanced to helpengineering professors infuse wisdom into their lectures,tutorials and labs as a matter of accelerating the learningand maturation of their students.