Reflection in Engineering Education

Reflection in Engineering Education

Pleun Hermsen, Remon Rooij, Gytha Rijnbeek, Ted Adrichem

Reflection is a term often heard. But what is meant by it in the context of engineering education? How do we see reflection being applied in engineering, and where and when? To what could it contribute? And what are the (pedagogical) challenges involved? In TU Delft’s 100 days of…REFLECTION festival, ‘Reflection in Engineering Education’ has been explored through journal clubs, conversations, presentations, a case pitching workshop, and peer exchange among university staff. The results of the 100 days of… festival trickled down in a white paper (read here) that aims to make reflecting more accessible and concrete within the context of TU Delft Engineering Education.

“Reflection is a process in which people make sense of and interpret a specific experience to yield insight into where they stand and how to go on.”

Reflection is not an activity in itself; it is a means, not an end. After all, you reflect on something. The paper distinguishes six domains on which we can reflect: [i] societal challenges and societal developments that impact (the work of) engineers, [ii] the products and artefacts that engineers develop, [iii] the development processes in which engineers are involved producing those products, [iv] the interactions and collaborations with other professional and/or societal stakeholders during those processes, [v] the student’s learning journey and experience, and [vi] oneself, including one’s personal and professional identity and behaviour.

In addition to the six domains mentioned above, the paper differentiates between two reflection perspectives: an action perspective (Doing) and a formative, contemplative perspective (Growth).  On the one hand, reflection can be very helpful in acquiring more insight into how to produce better products, models, designs, prototypes, services, work processes, or procedures. It has a good fit, intuitively speaking, with the role of an engineer as an analytical problem solver, maker, designer, and manufacturer. But reflection also offers insight into oneself, one’s own values and how one relates to the surrounding world. This perspective is therefore about the engineer as a person.

From a pedagogical and instructional design point of view, many questions arise about the kinds of exercises, teaching methods, social safety issues, and assessment strategies, to name but a few. The paper presents many questions to consider when you want to integrate reflection in your course or program. And these are the kind of questions we would like to further discuss with our engineering education community. Interested? Please register here for our 4TU.CEE webinar Reflection in Engineering Education.