Modes of Humanities and Social Thought in Entry Level Civil Engineering

Abstract

Like the rest of society, civil engineering has called for a balance among the interlinkages of economics, society, and the environment. Civil engineering governing bodies look to the humanities and social sciences as ingredients in the formula for such a balance in civil engineering education. However, the governing bodies appear to have left the strategy for implementation to educators. Inevitably, if we are to implement humanities and social sciences into the civil engineering curriculum, we need to answer the questions: what humanities and social sciences? And to what extent? This dissertation aimed to contribute to these answers. The objective of this study was to identify the modes of humanities and social thought in entry-level civil engineering. The study used a conceptual framework, which combines Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, the concept of scaffolding and Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger concepts of community of practice and peripheral participation. This combination provided a framework by which I could investigate the humanities and social sciences in entry-level civil engineering practice and by so doing can inform engineering educators about undergraduate civil engineering curriculum. A grounded theory methodology as used to discover a phenomenon from which assertions were made about humanities and social sciences in entry-level civil engineering. Seven concepts emerged from the data. Through the interaction, interconnections of these seven concepts emerged the phenomenon, ‘Sustainable Civil Infrastructure Projects’. Sustainable Civil Infrastructure Projects take steps to optimize sustainability through the conscious application of sustainable management, effective communication, rules and ethics. These discipline branches of social science and humanities are foundational to sustainable civil engineering practice. However, navigating the social characteristics of sustainable civil engineering practice require more nuance. It requires the knowledge and application of social sciences and humanities that are not typically associated with engineering but are blended into sustainable civil engineering practice. The social sciences and humanities are interwoven into sustainable practice but connected in specific ways. This dissertation offered fourteen assertions to summarize the findings concerning the modes of humanities and social thought that are salient to entry-level civil engineers.