Intercultural Competency


 

 

This page contains learning resources and an eBook developed as part of the OLT project Exploring Intercultural Competency In engineering. The eBook, Engineering Across Cultures, covers the educational principles underpinning the development of the EAC learning modules.

Each module includes facilitator/tutor guides, student guides and supporting materials. The resources are creative commons material and you are welcome to redevelop them, acknowledging the original Authors. Below is an overview of each module and a link to the pdf versions of the materials. We welcome developments, revisions and additions to these materials. For more information on any of these resources or to request modifiable .doc file versions please contact Tom Goldfinch at tomgold@uow.edu.au.

 

Engineering Across Cultures, authored by Elyssebeth Leigh and Tom Goldfinch. (View draft)

 

Overview of EAC learning modules

Module overview

Resources

Living culture – EAC 1-2-3 - Modules on awareness and understanding of engineering in general social contexts

EAC 1 - How people live and the impact of engineering. An exploratory analysis linking familiar personal living contexts with unfamiliar [even ‘strange’] modes from around the world.

Student guide

Tutor guide

8 scenarios

EAC 2  - Working with clients. Positions student in either client or consultant teams with the task of exploring client needs on the way to developing an engineering solution to a construction task. Possible assessable components.

Student guide

Tutor guide

7 client briefs

EAC 3 - Workplaces as Cultural Contexts. Uses four quite different case studies to examine how working contexts are influenced by cultural forces that may – or may not – be beneficial to those employed there. Possible assessable components.

Student guide

Tutor guide

Case studies:

1, 2, 3, & 4

Workplace Culture – EAC 4-5-6 – Modules on issues within the context of immediate experiences

EAC 4 Analysing Engineering Relevance. Draws on an interview and transcript of a recovery response strategy following the 2004 tsunami. The Module is intended to be an introduction for students who will be completing some kind of engineering project process [e.g. EWB]

Student guides

Tutor guide

Scenario Transcript

EAC 5 Creating Culture - “Barnga”. Employs a card game developed to demonstrate how culture is ‘built’ by those engaged in it. Invites exploration of forces –seen and unseen – that begin to shape routine behaviours

Tutor guide

Student guide

Game rules

EAC 6 Exploring personal cultural stances - “Yes! No! Maybe!” Employs a simple board game strategy to assist students identify and examine their own current cultural values and perceptions.

Tutor guide

 Student guide

 Worksheets

Community Culture – EAC 7-8-9 – Modules on engagement with community issues engineers may encounter

EAC 7 - Engineering in conflict with community. Uses a formal debating structure to draw students into an in-depth exploration of issues involved in a potentially divisive issue that has both social and engineering implications. Possible assessable components.

 

Tutor Guide

Student guide

EAC 8 – Culture as values in written texts [Minessence]. Employs a specific form a textual analysis to guide students through a process of analysing how organisational cultures may be expressed in written documents.

Tutor guide*

Student guide*

Resources*

EAC 9 – Conceptualising engineering projects – My Best Bet. A team based activity that explores the forces identified when using a SWOT analysis of organisational contexts.

Tutor guide*

Student guide*

Game materials*

Technical/Cultural demands – EAC 10-11-12 – Modules explore links among technical requirements and cultural requirements

EAC 10 – “Fitting It All In”  - culture in professions & trades. Uses a hypothetical building project to examine the kinds of issues that commonly arise when trying to ‘fit in’ all the essential elements in a building project.

Tutor guide

Student guide

 

EAC 11 - Technical aspects - Designs for the future. Students explore how initial solutions may – or may not – address the ‘real’ problems facing a design task.

Tutor guide*

Student guide*

Resources*

EAC 12 – Solutions creating problems - Piper Alpha case study. A case study based on the Piper Alpha oil-rig explosion. Provides incomplete information and invites students to explore the events, and immediate and long-term results. Possible assessable components.

Tutor guide*

Student guide*

Resources*

Culture in the Classroom – EAC 13-14-15 – Modules for teaching staff - supporting materials to help apply EAC teaching/learning strategies

EAC 13 - Project Portfolio Management

Tutor guide

EAC 14 - Teaching on the edge of chaos

Tutor guide

EAC 15 - Teaching styles / learning styles

Tutor guide

 

*Not yet trialled in class. Please contact Tom Goldfinch (tomgold@uow.edu.au) for further information and access to these materials.

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Support for the EAC resources has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views expressed in the EAC resources do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.

 

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Support for this publication/activity has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views expressed in this publication/activity do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.