Because much of the work of an engineer has to do with the rigorous application of scientific details, typical engineering curricula tend to focus on making sense of how all these details interrelate mathematically and conceptually. The innovation in ENG 100.500 “Biotechnology, Human Values, and the Engineer” is to couch information within engaging stories that focus on the people affected by engineers. Through in-class dialogue, peer-to-peer interactions, written assignments, and classroom activities, students reflect on the relevance and consequences of engineering topics from the perspectives of patients, poets, singers, students, corporations, Congress, and the body politic. Beyond conveying engineering principles, the personal accounts help students situate technical information within broader communities and begin considering how they, as principled engineers, aspire to effect change in the wider world. Memorable stories also motivate students to digest a full slate of important technical content, including advanced vocabulary, contemporary statistics, and current trends.

This human-centric approach has increased student engagement and allowed students to more readily relate engineering content to their own senses of identity and ethics. This innovation builds on well-established research showing that contextualizing engineering for first-year students can facilitate their persistence in the discipline. As Professor Belmont puts it, “To create the kinds of well-rounded, cosmopolitan, creative, confident, and compassionate engineers the future needs, we’re going to have to tell them the kinds of stories that make them stay.”