Work in progress — Technology and Global Issues: A non-traditional course in the engineering curriculum

Traditionally, many Engineering programs create a one semester course in a lecture/dialogue format to demonstrate that their students attain the “soft” ABET outcomes (f), (h) and (j) However, it is often the case that upon completion of this course, students are unable to demonstrate: critical/analytical thinking skills, ethical/moral and civic engagement, a global perspective/world view. As a result, graduating engineers have not gained a fuller understanding of the responsibilities of citizenship. In 2005, NYIT initiated NYIT 2030. A key initiative of NYIT 2030 was a new “Discovery Core Curriculum”. As a result, all students must choose one course from each of four seminar categories. These core seminars are guided by three principles: Active Learning; Interdisciplinary and Discipline Specific Content; Research projects that are writing intensive. This presented the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences (SoECS) with the opportunity to create a new Core seminar IENG 400 “Technology and Global Issues” that would engage students more fully. This paper will describe the work, guided by the three principles of a core seminar, that has been completed so far.