Critical Pedagogical Interventions in Engineering: Deconstructing Hierarchical Dualisms to Expand the Narratives of Engineering Education

Paul, Robyn Mae

Critical Pedagogical Interventions in Engineering: Deconstructing Hierarchical Dualisms to Expand the Narratives of Engineering Education

dc.contributor.advisor	Brennan, Robert
dc.contributor.advisor	Behjat, Laleh
dc.contributor.author	Paul, Robyn Mae
dc.contributor.committeemember	Eggermont, Marjan
dc.contributor.committeemember	Black, Kerry
dc.contributor.committeemember	Sun, Qiao
dc.contributor.committeemember	Sengupta, Pratim
dc.contributor.committeemember	Lord, Susan
dc.date	2024-05
dc.date.accessioned	2024-02-06T19:47:33Z
dc.date.available	2024-02-06T19:47:33Z
dc.date.issued	2024-01-12
dc.description.abstract	Engineering in the western world is often framed as neutral or apolitical, meaning engineering education trains engineers to take little responsibility for perpetuating society’s biases through our technologies (such as racism, colonialism, and environmental degradation). In this thesis, I argue that as problem solvers and critical thinkers involved in the world’s biggest challenges, it is our ethical responsibility to unmask the hidden belief systems and dominant narratives that currently drive the engineering sector. Within our society, dualisms are embedded across our value systems, such as the dualisms of woman-man, emotion-reason, nature-culture, and social-technical. These dualisms exist as opposites, exclusive, and in a value-hierarchy (i.e. man-reason-culture-technical are typically viewed in exclusive opposition and valued higher than woman-emotion-nature-social). This thesis uses the hierarchical dualisms pedagogical framework to bring light to the normative cultures of engineering education and aims to support engineering education communities in increasing their critical consciousness and becoming aware of dominant value systems. Thus, my primary research question is: How do we design practices that unmask the hierarchical dualisms to build expanded narratives of engineering and engineering education? I answer this question by (1) outlining a framework of hierarchical dualisms and dominant narratives including illustrative case studies; (2) summarizing two pedagogical innovations I designed and implemented to unmask different hierarchical dualisms; and (3) analyzing my own writing for dominant narratives through a discourse analysis. Throughout, this thesis takes a non-traditional research approach to align my methodology with the epistemological assumptions of the research paradigm. I leverage dialogicity, relationality, and storytelling methodologies to describe my journey of doing paradigm shifting work in the field of engineering education. Overall, this thesis found that through increasing critical consciousness, broadening our systems thinking, engaging in interdisciplinary dialogue, being willing to transcend engineering boundaries, and imagining radical futures we can create momentum for emergent change that will foster liberatory education. As educators, students’ four years of undergraduate engineering in academia are our great opportunity to radically transform engineering students’ way of thinking about technology and design, and give them the skills and tools to radically transform the purpose of engineering.
dc.identifier.citation	Paul, R. M. (2024). Critical pedagogical interventions in engineering: deconstructing hierarchical dualisms to expand the narratives of engineering education (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118145
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42989
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	mental wellness
dc.subject	critical consciousness
dc.subject	storytelling
dc.subject	ecofeminism
dc.subject	hierarchical dualisms
dc.subject	anti-colonialism
dc.subject	dominant narratives
dc.subject	normative narratives
dc.subject	engineering justice
dc.subject	feminism
dc.subject	hidden curriculum
dc.subject	relationality
dc.subject	radical futures
dc.subject.classification	Engineering
dc.subject.classification	Education
dc.title	Critical Pedagogical Interventions in Engineering: Deconstructing Hierarchical Dualisms to Expand the Narratives of Engineering Education
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Mechanical & Manufacturing
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.