Why teach art in engineering?
University of Colorado Boulder
Abstract
What possible benefit could there be to having engineering students use their skills to create art objects? To spend valuable credit hours doing so, when they could be taking more fundamental or applied engineering courses?
Perhaps you have noticed that engineering has a problem with retention in school and in the profession? Or maybe you’ve noticed that your students are much more interested in points for assignments and ‘will it be on the final’ than in the material you are teaching?
Engineering education research has shown that some motivation problems can be addressed by emphasizing societal and environmental benefits, and by making the educational experience more social or game-like. But one type of motivation that has inspired makers and scientists throughout history has been largely unexplored: aesthetics. Can the act of creating an artifact that is personally meaningful, beautiful or simply cool motivate students to stay in engineering, to appreciate being engineers, to learn more about all aspects of their creation?
In this talk I’ll present a framework for thinking about art and aesthetics in engineering and engineering education, plus two examples of engineering technical electives that explore the aesthetics of engineering: Flow Visualization and Aesthetics of Design. We have some evidence that a semester-long aesthetics-focused course leads to a transformative experience, including an expansion of perception, motivated use (of course content outside the classroom), and affective value (appreciation of course content).
About the speaker
Dr. Jean Hertzberg is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder. She has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in measurement techniques, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, design and computer tools. She has pioneered a spectacular course on the art and physics of flow visualization, and is working on a textbook to support the course. She is conducting research on the impact of the course with respect to visual perception and educational outcomes. Her disciplinary research centers around pulsatile, vortex dominated flows with applications in both combustion and bio-fluid dynamics. She is also interested in a variety of flow field measurement techniques. Current projects include the production of potentially infectious aerosols by woodwind and brass instruments.
