A scoping literature review of sociotechnical thinking in engineering education

ABSTRACT

Sociotechnical thinking (STT) has recently emerged in response to technical-social dualism. It is defined as the ability to identify, address, and respond to both social and technical dimensions of engineering. As the number of publications on STT increases, so does the need to map the literature. This paper provides a scoping literature review of STT in engineering education, focusing on research purposes, methodologies, findings, and potential gaps. Our examination of 25 papers indicates that research on STT in engineering education covers a variety of purposes and methodologies. Key findings in the literature provide a better understanding of students’ demonstration of and barriers to developing STT, the intersections between STT, engineering identity and culture, characteristics of STT, challenges and opportunities for teaching STT, and how prior knowledge and emotional connections can facilitate students’ development of STT.

KEYWORDS:

• Sociotechnical thinking
• scoping literature review
• technology and society
• technical-social dualism

Acknowledgment

We would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for the support provided for the research presented in this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Notes on contributors

Renato B. Rodrigues

Renato B. Rodrigues is a Ph.D. candidate in Engineering Education at the University of Manitoba, with degrees in engineering and philosophy. He is interested in topics related to Science and Technology Studies and Critical Pedagogy. Currently, his research involves conceptualising ways of thinking in engineering that encourage and promote emancipatory and socially just engineering practices.

Jillian Seniuk Cicek

Jillian Seniuk Cicek is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba. She conducts research in engineering education that includes, among other topics, decolonising engineering, and the development of the field of engineering education research in Canada. She teaches technical communication, decolonised engineering, career design, and engineering education and research courses.