What Engineers Don’t Learn & Why They Don’t Learn It

David E. GoldbergIllinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, IL 61801 USA

deg@uiuc.edu

What Engineers Don’t Learnand Why They Don’t Learn It

• General Engineering at UIUC established in 1921 following curriculum study.

• Required industrial-sponsored projects since early 1970s.

• Teams of 3, faculty advisor, and company sponsor.

• $8,500 from the company to cover expenses.

• Go on the plant trip.

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Failure 1: Inability to Ask• Don’t learn how to frame or ask

good questions.• Difficulty probing the problem.• Trouble following what has

been tried.• Problems finding out vendors

and sources of information.• Historical terms: Socrates 101.

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Socrates (470-399 BCE)

Failure 2: Inability to Label• Don’t learn names of common

systems, assemblies, and components of technology.

• Difficulty labeling new artifact concepts or models.

• Linguistically naïve.• Mainly comfortable with

familiar categories and objects.

• Hist terms: Aristotle 101.

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Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

Failure 3: Inability to Model• Don’t learn to model conceptually:

– Causal chain.– Categorize according to list of attributes.

• Pavlovian dogs when it comes to equations.

• Need to understand problem qualitatively in words and diagrams prior to quantitative modeling undertaken.

• Hist terms: Hume 101 or Aristotle 102.

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David Hume (1711-1776)

Failure 4: Inability to Decompose• Don’t learn to decompose

big problem into little problems.

• Look for magic bullets in equations of motion.

• Most projects too hard: Companies don’t pay $8500 for plugging into Newton’s laws.

• Hist terms: Descartes 101?

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René Descartes (1596-1650)

Failure 5: Inability to MeasureDon’t learn to measure

stuff.Engineering taught as

abstract exercise.So used to thinking in

terms of physics and math, ignore direct measurement.

Hist terms: Locke 101 or Bacon 101?

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John Locke (1632-1704)

Failure 6: Inability to Draw/Visualize

• Graphics education greatly diminished.

• Do not learn to draw sketches or diagrams when helpful.

• Have difficulty with detailed drawings.

• Hist terms: da Vinci or Monge 101.

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Failure 7: Inability to Communicate• Finally finish the project.• Do’t learn to present or

write.• Coach to successful

conclusion.• “What we have here is a

failure to communicate.”• Hist terms: Newman 101.

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Paul Newman (b. 1925)

Summary of Quality Failure• After 4 years they don’t learn how to

– Question: Socrates 101.– Label: Aristotle 101.– Model conceptually: Hume 101 & Aristotle 102.– Decompose: Descartes 101.– Measure: Locke 101 or Bacon 101.– Visualize/draw: Monge 101 or da Vinci 101.– Communicate: Newman 101

• Industry this would be huge quality failure: “product” inadequate to intended function.

• 7 failures as decomposition for repair.

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http://www.illigal.uiuc.edu/web/ifoundry

What Engineers Don’t Learn & Why They Don’t Learn It

David E. GoldbergIllinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, IL 61801 USA

deg@uiuc.edu