The practice of engineering teaching

Sili Law, Purdue University

Abstract

This thesis focuses on several aspects of engineering teaching in the household by parents with engineering backgrounds. It seeks to explain why certain concepts are taught by the parents and why certain strategies are used to convey the concepts. First, the linkage between the ways parents use to teach their children and certain engineering concepts taught by the parents is a unique practice in the engineering field that needs to be carefully examined. Second, engineering concepts that are taught by the parents and strategies used to teach such concepts have close relationships to both the constraint of certain structures as well as individuals’ interactions. Third, engineering concepts have different connotations to practitioners depending on their various backgrounds. Practice theory shows strength in understanding such aspects of engineering teaching. New approaches are added to the role model of practice theory to solve the macro-micro linkage problem and examine how individuals take on practices from the multifaceted states in which they find themselves.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Anderson, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Cultural anthropology|Engineering|Educational technology

COinS