The Socially Responsible Engineer: Assessing Student Attitudes of Roles and Responsibilities

Background A state university's Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) programs initiated curricular reform efforts that incorporated systems thinking and service learning as part of a National Science Foundation Department Level Reform (DLR) grant. Purpose(Hypothesis) The purpose of this study was to examine changes in students' perceptions of engineers' social responsibilities and technical knowledge that were influenced by the programs' DLR curricula reforms. A secondary goal was to test the validity and reliability of a student attitude survey. Design/Method A longitudinal, concurrent, mixed method study was implemented over a four‐year period. A survey was developed and administered to 125 graduating CEE seniors. Qualitative analyses included open‐ended survey responses and interviews with faculty, students, and focus groups. Results Student attitudes declined during the first two years of implementation with students citing dissatisfaction with course changes. Yet, no statistically significant difference was found for students' self‐reported technical knowledge and social responsibilities by graduating class or major. Female students, however, showed a positive statistically significant difference in their self‐perceptions of increased technical knowledge and engineers' social responsibilities. Adoption of new language was noticeable for students in the Class of 2009, indicating that concepts of systems thinking and service learning were beginning to be assimilated. The student attitude survey was determined to be a valid and reliable instrument. Conclusion Students caught in the middle of program reform are likely to resist change and express dissatisfaction. Assessments of student attitudes allowed implementers to evaluate their reform efforts' successes and shortcomings and enabled them to adapt and modify their strategies accordingly.