Engineering Design Graphics Instruction Through a Lens of Cultural–Historical Learning Theory

Expert engineering design graphics educators have mastered a complex network of symbols and cognitive tools. Their expertise has been developed by gaining rich experience working with communities of educators, industry professionals, and students. Examining specific learning examples through a lens of cultural-historical learning theory provides a method of understanding the “ways of knowing” within this field. The specific signs and symbols of engineering design graphics are considered psychological tools which are used in daily activities to direct the mind and change the process of thinking. Experienced educators know the appropriate times to introduce these signs and symbols when students would not spontaneously discover them on their own. They help students learn the languages of graphics by recognizing emerging abilities and using questioning strategies and other techniques to move a student from their actual development to their potential development. This scaffolding technique is recommended within collaborative, culturally meaningful, problem-solving environments. This paper will outline the signs and tools prevalent in engineering design graphics, explain engineering design graphics instruction within the context of cultural-historical learning theory, and describe specific learning examples within this theory. Introduction / Review of Literature The process engineering graphics educators use to design instruction, select course materials, and execute an educational plan is influenced by many factors. Some educators instruct primarily using methods that they experienced as students. They use instructional strategies that have successfully produced results over time. Others are reflective practitioners and ponder the theory that motivates their classroom instruction. The learning theory they embrace informs the types of instructional strategies they use in the classroom. During the early 1900s, the study of learning theory became prevalent after formal schooling had been developed. Popular theories include operant conditioning – Skinner; information processing theories – Anderson, Paivio, etc.; metacognition; cognitive-development theory – Piaget; cultural-historical theory – Vygotsky; and social-cognitive theory – Bandura. This paper will focus on how Vygotsky’s cultural-historical learning theory can be used to explain the ways of knowing within engineering graphics education. Vygotsky was mainly concerned with how human development was influenced by political and social systems. He believed that an individual’s behavior is the result of two different processes of mental development: the biological evolution of the human species and the process of the development of humans as the result of the use of signs and symbols to change their mental functions. For him, studying the way cultures use language (signs and symbols) was a primary source for understanding human development within a culture.