Examining Hard and Soft Skill Prioritization in High School Engineering Education

• In Event: Middle and High School Learners in Computing and Engineering Education

Abstract

In high school engineering education teachers face a significant pedagogical load, trying to integrate different dimensions of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills alongside codified educational standards in their teaching. Artificial intelligence systems may have promise to relieve some load for teachers, but care must be taken to design these systems to support, not hinder, teachers’ own pedagogical priorities. Towards designing an AI system for engineering education classrooms, we conducted a semi-structured interview study (N = 5) with high school engineering teachers to elicit their pedagogical practices around the engineering design process (EDP). Here we investigate how teachers prioritize ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills for their students in engineering design projects and explore the implications of supporting these skills via an intelligent system.

Authors

• Yasmine Belghith, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Presenting Author

• Roxanne Moore, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Meltem Alemdar, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jeffrey Rosen, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mark Riedl, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica Roberts, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Non-Presenting Author