Distinctively Christian Engineering: An Evaluation of our Civil Curriculum

Abstract

AbstractAs professors in an engineering program developed with the intention of being Christ-centred and holistic, one of our responsibilities is to equip our students to serve the Lord obediently in all that they do—especially in engineering. To serve as the foundation of this preparation, we used a previous publication which set out five distinctively Christian guiding principles for engineering. Our intent is that these principles will be used to direct the development and modification of our engineering curriculum. Directing these efforts requires a grounding point. Therefore, this paper evaluates the extent to which these principles are already emphasized in the program’s civil engineering curriculum. Comparing this evaluation to benchmarks for each of the five principles revealed that the curriculum fell short. This result was expected because the curriculum does not contain a formal process to introduce, emphasize, and apply these principles. The evaluation determined that the first principle, which recognizes that the world and everything in it was created for God’s glory, fell the farthest from its benchmark. Since this principle is foundational to all the other principles, efforts to increase the emphasis of this principle should be given the highest priority.  OpsommingAs professore in ‘n ingenieursprogram wat ontwikkel is met die doel on Christo-sentries en holisties te wees, was een van ons verantwoordelikhede om ons studente toe te rus om die Here met gehoorsaamheid te dien in alles wat hulle doen – veral in ingenieurswese. As ‘n fondasie vir hierdie voorbereiding, het ons ‘n vorige publikasie gebruik waarin vyf duidelike Christelike rigtinggewende beginsels vir ingeneiurswese uiteengesit word. Ons bedoeling is dat hierdie beginsels gebruik sal word om die ontwikkeling en wysiging van ons ingenieurskurrikulum te onderlê.  Om rigting te gee aan hierdie poging moet ons die proses anker, en daarom sal hierdie artikel die omvang evalueer van die bereiking van hierdie beginsels in die program se siviele ingenieurswesekrrikulum. As mens hierdie evaluering vergelyk met doelwitte wat gestel is vir elkeen van die vyf beginsels, it is duidelik dat die kurrikulum tekortskiet.  Hierdie uitkoms was te verwagte omdat die kurrikulum nie ‘n formele proses bevat om hierdie beginsels bekend te stel, te onderstreep en toe te pas nie.  Die evaluering het bepaal dat die eerste beginsel, wat is dat alles geskep is tot die eer van God, en hierdie beginsel het die meeste tekort geskiet. Aangesien hierdie beginsel die fondasie is vir al die ander beginsels, moet pogings aangewend word om die belang van en onderstreping van hierdie beginsel die hoogste prioriteit te gee.https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.80.3.2239