Extended abstract
Learning Together in CBL is a research project aimed at studying the epistemological perspectives of students, teachers and stakeholders in a collaborative process in challenge based learning. Epistemic perspectives encompass views on the nature of knowledge, the reliability of sources of information, the role of evidence and experimentation, and the level of certainty or uncertainty inherent in a given body of knowledge. Our findings highlight that epistemic beliefs, are crucial for engineering students who often perceive values as unrelated to their field. Hence, epistemic perspectives form the basis for understanding and teaching societal transformation. Understanding how and what engineers know, and how they act on that knowledge, has a profound impact on society (Kant & Kerr, 2019), this epistemological development is needed in order to solve complicated moral and social dilemmas (Han & Jeong, 2014). Hence the importance of understanding and shaping the epistemological beliefs of engineering educators and students, as these beliefs both influence the design of engineering classes as well as the development of future engineers (Ghazali et al., 2021). This research poster will give an overview of our two year research project outlining our interdisciplinary approach of philosophy and educational sciences to gain a better understanding of students' epistemic beliefs, thereby informing the development of skills and competencies students need to develop to address complex societal challenges. Background: Professional engineers need to possess skills of critical thinking, where they are able to interpret data from different sources, to make decisions supported by evidence, and to recognize that knowledge is context dependent. To develop this level of thinking, or in other words, sophisticated beliefs contrary to naïve beliefs, the curriculum needs to be designed in a way that helps their engineering ways of thinking to broaden up as they progress through the curriculum. The strength of CBL is that it has the potential to confront students with real life cases and the associated complexity, uncertainty and compromise required to develop such skills (Bombaerts, 2021; Bombaerts & Doulougeri, 2019; Bombaerts & Martin, 2019). The process of solving a real life challenge should confront students employing “absolute knowing” approaches that assume single, constant correct answers and require them to develop “contextual knowing” strategies. This should particularly be the case if the stakeholders and teachers stimulate the contextual knowing approach by being an exemplar themselves and make developing students’ epistemic perspective an explicit goal (Bombaerts et al., 2022; Doulougeri et al., 2022). The project is organized into three phases: 1 Analysis of instruments available to measure epistemic beliefs Assessment of epistemological beliefs in engineering education is crucial for understanding students' perspectives on knowledge and learning. To successfully carry out such an assessment, we need validated reliable psychometric tools. In this part of the project, we carried a systematic literature review on existing instruments utilized to assess epistemological beliefs. Guided by the question "What existing instruments are designed to measure or characterize epistemological beliefs in engineering?" Our systematic review revealed a lack of conceptually coherent and empirically robust tools for assessing epistemological beliefs specific to engineering contexts. This gap underscores the need for tailored instruments that capture the nuances of epistemic development within CBL environments. 2 Epistemic tensions in CBL context This part of the project is an empirical exploration of understanding epistemic tensions encountered by student teams, educators, and stakeholders within a challenge based learning (CBL) environment through answering the question: How do students teams negotiate a common epistemological stance as they interact with other actors in the learning environment? Through a series of classroom observations, we encountered instances of epistemic tension within student groups and between groups and teaching teams. To progress with their projects and settle some decisions, these tensions necessitated resolution, often through negotiation, mutual understanding, or decision making strategies that unveil evolving epistemological perspectives. The results revealed that resolving epistemic tensions, such as differing perspectives on knowledge validity, requires negotiation and adaptation among student teams. This process provides insights into how epistemological beliefs evolve within CBL settings, often showing context dependent variability. 3 Establishing a tool to measure epistemic beliefs We are developing an assessment tool for eliciting students’ epistemic beliefs. The tool consists of an introduction lecture on the topic, followed by a quantitative survey, and lastly, a series of written reflection questions to help the students reflect on their epistemological beliefs. The piloting of the tool will take place in the engineering ethics newly developed course and first data collection round will take place in the Decisions Under Risk and Uncertainty course. Those courses were chosen as the content readily covers the topic of social responsibility, enabling us to understand the possible relation between students epistemic beliefs and their perception of their social responsibility. Future steps involve applying the tool across diverse contexts, comparing epistemological beliefs in CBL versus traditional classes, and across disciplines. These comparisons will provide critical insights into the effectiveness of CBL in fostering adaptive, context sensitive epistemic perspectives in engineering education. References: Bombaerts, G. (2021). Challenge based learning to improve the quality of engineering ethics education. Bombaerts, G., & Doulougeri, K. (2019). Addressing different needs of first year engineering students in a course of Ethics and History of Technology. Bombaerts, G., Kovacs, H., Martin, D., & Tormey, R. (2022). How can you contribute to the social responsibility of your university’s education? Bombaerts, G., & Martin, D. A. (2019). Case studies in engineering ethics education. Doulougeri, K. I., Vermunt, J. D., Bombaerts, G., & Bots, M. (2022). Analyzing student teacher interactions in challenge based learning. Ghazali, N. E., Bakar, Z. A., Shafie Bakar, M., Busu, M., & Rahman, N. (2021). Epistemology in Engineering Education: An Overview. Han, H., & Jeong, C. (2014). Improving Epistemological Beliefs and Moral Judgment Through an STS-Based Science Ethics Education Program. Kant, V., & Kerr, E. (2019). Taking Stock of Engineering Epistemology: Multidisciplinary Perspectives.
