Global perspectives: First-year engineering students’ views on social engineering projects

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of a new first-year course on students’ views on engineering practice and problem solving for a global context. Specifically, we wanted to know how first-year engineering students viewed humanitarian engineering projects, what these projects meant to them, what the specific design requirements are and whether their views on the role of engineers were influenced as a result of the course. A short feedback survey was administered to the class following the completion of the course in 2014. Thirty-six responses were received, collated and analysed (from a total of 50 students), giving a response rate of 72%. This paper presents the findings and discusses the important concepts that engineering students learn and their views about social engineering projects.