Representation Issues In Engineering Education: Engineering Issues And Parallels From The Visual & Performing Arts

Engineering educations routinely use a variety of means to assist in the education process, including all forms of media (books, visual aids, virtual sources, etc.). The incorporation of “real world” materials and experiences is disappearing. Students actually see the hardware aspects of their subject less and less, including (small scale) individual components and (large scale) industrial processes. While this may reflect economic and convenience realities, there is a potential conceptual error being made by instructors (and subsequently adopted by students) that studying models, diagrams, illustrations, etc. of engineering objects or processes of interest is equivalent to (and perhaps even superior to) including the “real” object in the educational process. In the extreme, many may even feel such inclusion or the providing of such experiences is unnecessary. Put another way, elimination of “real world” experiences is accompanied by the loss of sensory information; this loss of information lessens the quality of the educational experience. In the Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), a similar problem has also occurred. Musicians study scores rather than listen to music; theater studies the script and not the performed play, etc. Thus, meaningful parallels can be drawn between engineering and the VPA in terms of the problem and its potential solutions. A discussion of representation theory will be presented along with potential errors that may result when “reality” is progressively eliminated from direct experience. A series of examples from current engineering practices will then be presented, drawing from several engineering disciplines. Next, parallels in the VPA will be addressed, further illustrating and expanding the discussion. Finally, solutions to the problems will be presented, providing educators with practical ideas to implement. Data from a survey of engineering educators from several departments will also be included in the presentation, illustrating the problem with data showing the extent to which “real objects” are or are not included in the educational process. This includes a “snapshot” of the present situation and a comparison to earlier time periods (specifically 10 and 20 years ago). Not surprising, there is a correlation between the value of “real object” incorporation and extent of previous industrial experience.