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Towards an imaginative engineering education
Towards an Imaginative Engineering Education W.E. D U C K W O R T H
& R.H. LEWIN
Fulmer Research Institute Ltd., Stoke Poges, Bucks. In the United Kingdom increasing attention is now being paid to the problem o f the low status and reward o f engineers in industry. A ma/or inquiry, carried out from 1978 to 1980, has resulted in the setting up o f an Engineering Council. This paper points out that one o f the first problems to be tackled by this Council shouM be the way in which engineers are educated. The recently published report of the Committee of Inguiry into the Engineering Profession ~ pointed out that one, but only one, of the causes of British industrial decline was the lack of proper utilisation of engineers in British industry. This is by no means a post war phenomenon, a detailed analysis by Lord Hinton in a recent address to the Fellowship of Engineering 2 showed that Britain has only used its engineers intelligently when forced to do so by great national emergencies such as those which threatened the country in the latter half of the 18th century and, of course, in the most recent World War. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest that one contributory reason to this lack of consistent intelligent use of our engineers lies in our school education system, which tends to teach science and technology in such a way as to discourage many, although by no means all, fortunately, of the more imaginative children away from engineering careers.
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Convergence and Divergence The first clues to this came with the work of Liam Hudson at Cambridge University 3 when he was re-examining the results of intelligence tests on a large number of undergraduates. He discovered that there was a bias in the results of the tests, which distinguished between science and non science graduates. With science graduates there was a numerical or diagrammatic preference, and with the non science graduates an almost equally clear verbal emphasis. Hudson then postulated that the standard intelligence test examined convergent mentalities, that is, mentalities which were able to perceive and be contented with problems with a single solution, and that these types of problems were especially attractive to those reading science subjects. For the non scientists problems with a unique solution did not seem attractive and Hudson, using the work of Getzels and Jackson 4, developed different types of test which measured divergence and asked pupils to tackle such problems as finding the maximum number of uses for bricks, barrels, paper clips, shoe polish, blankets, etc. Examples of the types of questions found in normal convergent intelligence tests are given in Appendix 1, and a description of divergent tests provided in Appendix 2. The contrast between the two is clear. Hudson found that many of the
scientists were unhappy with the open ended nature of his new type of intelligence test and could only think of a limited range of uses for familiar objects. The non scientists performed better in this type of test and in some cases a quite phenomenal number of uses was proposed for the most mundane objects. As problems in real life do not have unique solutions, and as capacity in solving problems tends to relate to success in real life situations, Hudson's analysis suggested that if the non scientists were a more imaginative population then it was not surprising that those engineers who did not belong to this population were not imaginatively used. Any profession tends to use imaginatively its own type of people. Hudson's analysis has been criticised as taking too extreme a view because there is no doubt that many practising scientists and engineers are imaginative people, and not all non scientists possess high imaginative powers. A better use of Hudson's work for the purpose of this paper is to point out that our method of teaching science and technology in schools is too convergent and hence, although many imaginative children may be attracted to the sciences, they inevitably become schooled in convergent modes of thought, which they respect because these appear to have been successful in the development of
MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
their chosen subject by people whose minds and achievements they deafly respect. Indeed, so powerful may this convergent discipline be that, certainly on graduation, the discipline of thought is sufficiently inculcated to give credence to Hudson's correlations. Those who choose the non science subjects are not so confined to these modes of thought and their imaginations receive much more practice in divergent modes. If there were clear evidence that this convergent discipline had no adverse economic and cultural effects there would be no need for this paper, there may have been no need for the Finniston Committee of Inquiry 1 and there may have been no need for a paper like Lord Hinton's 2 analysing more than 200 years of misues of our engineers. It is because the econornic and cultural consequences are so serious that this paper has been written in an attempt to mobilise forces to help correct the adverse situation. Real Life Situations
We must change the nature of science and technology teaching to make clear the open ended nature of the solutions to the problems they are designed to tackle, and hence allow our most imaginative and creative children a real free choice in subjects and careers. We do no service to any pupil when we condition his choice by our method of teaching. As an illustration of this, in the work of the Fulmer Industry/Education Project s , which incidentally has fully supported, from personal observations, Liam Hudson's own findings, pupils were asked "How can you cross a river?". A range of anwers were given from; bridge, swim, walk, boat, and so on, but when asked which was the right answer confusion arose, and the school children then awaited for the right answer to be given. In this session the point was made that it is not possible to decide whether there is a right or a wrong answer to this question, and before any comments could be offered we needed to find out information additional to the original question. When the difference between this type of problem and the convergent type was explained the problem was given again, and when the same question about crossing the river was asked the pupils realised that before
they could attempt an answer they must ask questions such as: how wide, is the river frozen over, is it necessary to cross, etc. before some of the best, but certainly not the only correct, solutions could be offered. This exercise serves to emphasise sharply the cultural tendency of our secondary education system to encourage convergent thinking at the expense of the divergent type. It is as if educationalists observed the real world in terms of solutions to problems and then produced a system different in nearly every respect. It is implicit if one reads a traditional examination paper, or observes those taking examinations, that problems in school are based at present on the following sets of rules. All problems last approximately half an hour; all the information is given, no more and no less; problems are solved alone; no copying from others is allowed; the problem has a definite solution. The distortion which these sets of rules produce in examinations of such essentially useful subjects as mathematics, which serve to emphasize to imaginative children their unreality to real life, are typified in the following trigonometrical example. A ship is anchored 300 metres from the shore. The angle subtended from the deck of the ship to the top of the cliff is 27 ° and the angle subtended from the top of the mast to the top of the cliff is 18 °. Calculate the height of the mast h. The nonsense of this question is immediate when related to the real life situation. A captain of a ship, having asked a member of the crew to ascertain the height of the mast, would consider he had a lunatic aboard if he found the crew member either at the bottom or top of the mast with a theodolite in his hand. Just as valid, and probably more difficult, would be to ask the student to suggest five ways to determine the height of a mast, commenting on the difficulty and accuracy for each method. Not only are problems in real life relevant and not abstract but they can be solved either quickly or take a very extensive period of solution. The information available may be either too little or too much. Other people should be involved, and it is advantageous to copy from the work of others. It is frightening to think of the
MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
number of responsible people in industry who may give up seeking solutions to problems because they have been taught at school that after a half hour's effort they should either have solved them, or are incapable of so doing. There must be many able engineers who find it difficult to shake off the habits of thought inculcated at school, and hence realise their true potential to industry. So also must there be many in non science and non technical career positions who have been turned away by their perceived absurdity of the above mathematical illustration, yet yearn for the opportunity to practice an engineering skill for which they have had no proper training. The number of people in non technical positions who have hobbies which show a high degree of engineering skill must surely be an illustration of this. Yet so divorced is our culture from science and technology that we have no word in English for 'the art of making things' and the downgrading of the word 'engineer' has been commented upon in the Finniston Report I and elsewhere. Possible Solutions
The rest of this paper will describe the kind of education system which should be examined. It is very important to arouse the interest and curiosity of children at an early date and so we suggest, in the way later described, that a start is made to introduce technological awareness in primary education. We tend to underrate the capacity for learning, especially at primary school, and the capacity to relate to outside life. The worst evil that any educational system can commit is to ensure that what happens inside school is totally unrelated to what happens outside. We need not teach everything in its chronological sequence. This is especially true of science, where it was observed that children were still being taught Dalton's hypothesis after the atomic bomb had exploded. It is most important to teach history by relating to what the child reads in the newspapers or hears from his parents. It is better to teach geography from the current state of developing countries. The number of children who must have been turned away from any interest in learning because of the remorseless grind through its chrono-
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logy is frightening to contemplate. Chronology is important, of course, at a higher level of education, but this is where it should be left until after the understanding of the importance of the subject has been gained. We must also defer to as late a stage as possible the choice between a liberal and a scientific education. We often wonder, in the world of science and technology, why so many of our most able administrators have been educated in the liberal arts. We tend to feel this is because there has been a greater sense of vocation among the scientists and technologists, and certainly this cannot be ignored. We still have the terrible snobbery of regarding the scientist or engineer who has departed from the bench at an early age as being a failure, and yet no one criticises the historian who goes into the administration branch of the Civil Service, the linguistic scholar who finds his career in a hotel chain or the classicist who becomes a bank manager. If one analyses the content of the liberal arts courses, especially those related to history or the classics, one finds that in this education stream a person learns, whether explicitly or by a process of osmosis, how to deal with people, and in successful administration one must know how to deal with people. Far too many scientists with, once again, their convergent training, tend to deal with administration, when forced into it, as a mathematical system. This may be because they wish to retain some aspect of scientific credibility because their training has been too convergent, but most likely because nowhere in their training have they been exposed to the problems of dealing with people. Indeed, in most courses in science and mathematics, apart from a few great names, one does not really learn that people exist. One has only to remember the horror with which the Double Helix book 6 was greeted by the Scientific Establishment because it showed scientists as normal, fragile human beings. It is thus just as important for those who may eventually be capable of running a major firm in alarge industry to have gone some way with history or classics or language as it is to have dealt at length in pure mathematics or various branches of physics. We must,
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therefore, ensure that our 'A' level courses for entry into an engineering department are such that the student who had done, let us say, a technology 'A' level of the type described, plus history and, say, French or Latin at 'A' level standard is as acceptable in an engineering school as a person who has done maths, physics and chemistry. At the same time we must ensure that the same person who may decide to concentrate on history or languages at university has been sufficiently interested in the intellectual and imaginative challenge of a technology 'A' level to prefer it to another language or another liberal arts subject. We will then have senior administrators who at least understand technology, who at least appreciate the intellectual challenge in the art of making things economically and do not regard applied scientists and engineers as grubby fingered hacks who prefer to spend all their life at a bench surrounded by smelly chemicals or oily rags. When we have this kind of education which can keep open the choices of career up to the first entry into university, or even beyond, then we shall really have overcome the two cultures syndrome which C.P. Snow 7 so accurately defined as a peculiarly British problem. Previous Attempts
We recognise, of course, that we are not the first by many decades, to appreciate the problem, nor to attempt a solution. The Nuffield science courses, with their accompanying project, have attempted to illustrate the open ended nature of scientific problems. The principles are commendable, but a close study of project work shows that many people are, firstly, unhappy working in this open ended way and have little experience of the associated methodology. It is unrealistic to expect children to suddenly change their mode of thinking after many years of being assessed and taught in a convergent way. Other examples are the modern craft, design, technology and engineering courses such as Oxford 'A' level design and Cambridge 'A' level engineering. When taught by teachers with a design background, a knowledge of diverse thinking, and understanding of project methodology and physics and mathematics to 'A' level, then these courses are justifiably the equal of a science 'A' level. Unfortunately,
too few C, D and T teachers at the present time can adequately cope with these courses, and it is found that teachers from other parts of the arts and science curriculum have a poor understanding of the value of such courses.
Our Solution
Our approach is to suggest that in contrast to attempting to wrench students into more divergent modes, or, as De Bone would have it, lateral modes of thinking s, at a late stage in their development, we must introduce technology awareness at the primary stage. We must then gradually introduce technological capability in the secondary stage and, finally, to make technological options available as formal examination subjects at 'A' and degree level. The steps, therefore, are; technology awareness in primary education, technological capability in secondary education and technology options kept to as late a stage as possible. The primary system which bases much of its work around project activities is ideal for the introduction of technological awareness through the medium of the 'design process', which includes the concept of need, problem solving, developing solutions, designing and making things. A whole host of opportunities present themselves for linking in with other major inputs such as numbers, reading, writing and social skills. Technology can be seen to comprise those qualities and skills encouraged in the primary system such as creativity, working as a team, open ended problems and organisation; further, working with the world outside the classroom and using parents to assist with school work are already customary. Certain problems arise with the transition of the child from the primary to the secondary system. Subjects become more formal and distinctive, and within two further years the overriding influence of the examination system starts to dominate both the subjects studied and a preoccupation with the convergent analytical approach characteristic of our education system. Pupils entering the secondary system should continue the technological awareness theme started at the primary school and be introduced to the study of materials and processes, their
MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
relevance to both arts and science subjects, as incorporated in the 'third culture' principle. By the time pupils start to consider 'O' level options they will have learned that technological subjects require people with both creative and divergent talents. Students, however, will not have to commit themselves at this time to any set career pattern, since, with certain minor changes in the present 'O' level syllabi in subjects including mathematics, physics, chemistry, C, D and T, history, French and English they will be well equipped to elect for more specific choices at 'A' level. Even by the time a student reaches 'A' level he may still be uncertain as to a career. For this reason the following options would be open: 1. For the traditional science student who does not envisage an industrial career: mathematics, physics or chemistry; mathematics, physics, biology, etc. 2. For the student who is uncertain, or already knows he wishes to be an engineer: mathematics; physics, chemistry or biology; and technology. 3. For the imaginative student who wishes to delay his decisions as long as possible: history; French and technology. The latter child should be acceptable by universities offering engineering courses. Unfortunately the present indications are that university engineering departments are reluctant to consider any significant departures from their tradition of only accepting 'A' levels in mathematics, physics and chemistry. A good account of the resistance being experienced by those who are endeavouring to broaden the initial education of our potential engineers has been given by Deere in a paper recently published by Engineering 9 . Action Points
To achieve the kind of change in our school curriculum envisaged in this paper will require action by parents, schoolteachers, examination boards, universities, industry, Government and the children themselves. For any action to be taken it must be clear that there is a need for change. Such a need has already been expressed in the Finniston Report I and in the work of the Department of Industry
Industry/Education Advisory Committee and its predecessors t ° . These are the customers who require an improved product, i.e. children with a broader understanding of the role of education in our society and better equipped to be good engineers, designers and technological administrators. In any situation it is unlikely that improved products will be provided unless customers express a strong need for such a product. Hence the main initiative for change must come from industry and Government. Much encouraging action is already being taken and the mechanism for change already exists through the many industry education liaison units which are being set up. Some of the many organisations taking part in promoting this changing climate are listed in Appendix 3. For an improved product to emerge the process must be improved also, and this is the responsibility of parents, schoolteachers, examination boards and the universities. Parents must be convinced that there is a future for their children, educated in the manner described and this, again, is the responsibility of industry and Government to provide this conviction. Schoolteachers must be provided with the wherewithall to teach and here, again, Government and industry can help in the way which many industry education units have already pioneered. Examination boards must respond by providing examinations more suited to the new curricula and, finally, as has been said above, university professors must abandon their entrenched attitudes. Universities in this country are rightly proud of their tradition for promoting change. Engineering departments must not desert this tradition themselves. Anyone close to the industry education liaison movement cannot fail to feel the exciting pulse of change which is now throbbing within our educational system. A successful change along the lines proposed in this paper will help to ensure, for this country, a place as great in the twenty first century as it was in the nineteenth. References
1. 'Engineering our Future' Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Engineering Profession'. HMSO Cmnd. 7794 1980. 2. Hinton, Lord, The Decline in British Industrial Pre-Eminence. Address to
MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
Fellowship of Engineering. 24th March 1980. 3. Hudson, L, Contrary Imaginations, London: Methuen 1966. 4. Getzels, J.W. and Jackson, P.E. Creativity and Intelligence. New York: Wiley 1962. 5. Lewin, R.H. Fulmer Industry Education Project. A.S.E. Bulletin, p17, June 1980. 6. Watson, J.D. The Double Helix. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. 1968. 7. Snow, C.P.S. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. Rede Lecture 1959 8. De Bono, E.F.C.P. Lateral Thinking for Management a handbook of creativity. London: McGraw Hill 1971. 9. Deere. M. Design Education in Schools. 'Engineering' p. 699, June 1980. 10.Schools and Industry. A Guide to Schools/Industry Links, p.5. Cambridge: Hobsons Press 41923/79 1979. APPENDIX 1 CONVENTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TESTS
The conventional tests consist of questions in the form of puzzles. The individual is set a problem to which he is required to find the right answer; and he is frequently invited to choose this right answer from a list of alternatives. His reasoning is said to converge onto the right answer. 1. Typical questions might include: BIRD is to FEATHERS as FISH is to (SEA, SCALES, WEIGHT, FIN, NEXT). 2. In the list given there are three words which do not fit in with the rest. Cross them out. One word includes all the rest. Put a ring round it. NAIL, LADDER, CHISEL, HAMMER, SCREW, TOOL, SCREWDRIVER, SPANNER, SAW and PLANE. 3. Cross out what is not wanted in this sentence: I am not know going home to tea. 4. Underline the middle one of these: 8 8 8 8 8
4 7 3 3 4
7 4 4 7 3
3 3 7 4 7
5 5 5 5 4
Give the next in the series in the following: 343, 49, 7, 1........... AZ, BY, CX, DW . . . . . . . . . . . The standard intelligence test can
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vary between verbal, mathematical and visual testing, but it does appear that nearly every item is essentially a test based on assumption that the question has only one right answer. APPENDIX 2 DIVERGENT TESTS
In the open-ended tests which have been developed by Liam Hudson 3 , based on the work of Getzels and Jackson 4, different approaches have been employed, namely: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Use of objects Meaning of words Drawings Controversial statements Autobiography Personal qualities questionnaire
Use of Objects
In this test students are asked to think of as many different uses as they can for some of the objects listed below a barrel, a paperclip, a tin of boot polish, a brick, a blanket. Meaning of Words In this test each of the ten words
listea has more than one meaning. Students are asked to write as many meanings for each word as they can. The words are: bit, bolt, fair, first, peak, pitch,
port, sack and t~nder. Drawing
In this test the student is asked to draw a picture in the space provided. An example would be to illustrate the title - Zebra Crossing. Controversial Statements
A list of controversial statements is given to the students. They are asked to choose any one they wish and to comment on them in any way which seems approriate. 1. The happiest years of your life are spent at school. 2. Human nature being what it is, you cannot run a boys' school without corporal punishment. 3. Britain should withdraw from the next Olympic Games as a protest for the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia.
Autobiography The student here is asked to describe those aspects of his life which seem most interesting or important. There is no special form which the writer needs to take. Personal Qualities Questionnaire
What is needed here is to fill in a chart which indicates whether the
student personally approves or disapproves of the qualities listed below in some type of ranking. In the list, for example of which there are thirty questions, would be things such as: physically tough, highly imaginative mildly eccentric, gentleness, courage good team member. Liam Hudson suggests that the two types of tests should be considered as showing ability in two styles of reasoning: "the standard intelligence test" which relates to convergent ability and the "open-ended test" which shows divergent ability. APPENDIX 3
Careers Research and Advisory Centre. Standing Conference on Schools' Science and Technology. Industrial Society. National Centre for School Technology School's Liaison Service. Project Trident. Understanding British Industry. Department of Education and Science. Women's Engineering Society. Council of Engineering Institutions. ICFC - NUMAS. Working Mathematics Group. Young Enterprise. Schools Council. CBI.
A shortened version of this paper appeared in the Times Educational Supplement on May 22nd, 1981.
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MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
& R.H. LEWIN
Fulmer Research Institute Ltd., Stoke Poges, Bucks. In the United Kingdom increasing attention is now being paid to the problem o f the low status and reward o f engineers in industry. A ma/or inquiry, carried out from 1978 to 1980, has resulted in the setting up o f an Engineering Council. This paper points out that one o f the first problems to be tackled by this Council shouM be the way in which engineers are educated. The recently published report of the Committee of Inguiry into the Engineering Profession ~ pointed out that one, but only one, of the causes of British industrial decline was the lack of proper utilisation of engineers in British industry. This is by no means a post war phenomenon, a detailed analysis by Lord Hinton in a recent address to the Fellowship of Engineering 2 showed that Britain has only used its engineers intelligently when forced to do so by great national emergencies such as those which threatened the country in the latter half of the 18th century and, of course, in the most recent World War. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest that one contributory reason to this lack of consistent intelligent use of our engineers lies in our school education system, which tends to teach science and technology in such a way as to discourage many, although by no means all, fortunately, of the more imaginative children away from engineering careers.
215
Convergence and Divergence The first clues to this came with the work of Liam Hudson at Cambridge University 3 when he was re-examining the results of intelligence tests on a large number of undergraduates. He discovered that there was a bias in the results of the tests, which distinguished between science and non science graduates. With science graduates there was a numerical or diagrammatic preference, and with the non science graduates an almost equally clear verbal emphasis. Hudson then postulated that the standard intelligence test examined convergent mentalities, that is, mentalities which were able to perceive and be contented with problems with a single solution, and that these types of problems were especially attractive to those reading science subjects. For the non scientists problems with a unique solution did not seem attractive and Hudson, using the work of Getzels and Jackson 4, developed different types of test which measured divergence and asked pupils to tackle such problems as finding the maximum number of uses for bricks, barrels, paper clips, shoe polish, blankets, etc. Examples of the types of questions found in normal convergent intelligence tests are given in Appendix 1, and a description of divergent tests provided in Appendix 2. The contrast between the two is clear. Hudson found that many of the
scientists were unhappy with the open ended nature of his new type of intelligence test and could only think of a limited range of uses for familiar objects. The non scientists performed better in this type of test and in some cases a quite phenomenal number of uses was proposed for the most mundane objects. As problems in real life do not have unique solutions, and as capacity in solving problems tends to relate to success in real life situations, Hudson's analysis suggested that if the non scientists were a more imaginative population then it was not surprising that those engineers who did not belong to this population were not imaginatively used. Any profession tends to use imaginatively its own type of people. Hudson's analysis has been criticised as taking too extreme a view because there is no doubt that many practising scientists and engineers are imaginative people, and not all non scientists possess high imaginative powers. A better use of Hudson's work for the purpose of this paper is to point out that our method of teaching science and technology in schools is too convergent and hence, although many imaginative children may be attracted to the sciences, they inevitably become schooled in convergent modes of thought, which they respect because these appear to have been successful in the development of
MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
their chosen subject by people whose minds and achievements they deafly respect. Indeed, so powerful may this convergent discipline be that, certainly on graduation, the discipline of thought is sufficiently inculcated to give credence to Hudson's correlations. Those who choose the non science subjects are not so confined to these modes of thought and their imaginations receive much more practice in divergent modes. If there were clear evidence that this convergent discipline had no adverse economic and cultural effects there would be no need for this paper, there may have been no need for the Finniston Committee of Inquiry 1 and there may have been no need for a paper like Lord Hinton's 2 analysing more than 200 years of misues of our engineers. It is because the econornic and cultural consequences are so serious that this paper has been written in an attempt to mobilise forces to help correct the adverse situation. Real Life Situations
We must change the nature of science and technology teaching to make clear the open ended nature of the solutions to the problems they are designed to tackle, and hence allow our most imaginative and creative children a real free choice in subjects and careers. We do no service to any pupil when we condition his choice by our method of teaching. As an illustration of this, in the work of the Fulmer Industry/Education Project s , which incidentally has fully supported, from personal observations, Liam Hudson's own findings, pupils were asked "How can you cross a river?". A range of anwers were given from; bridge, swim, walk, boat, and so on, but when asked which was the right answer confusion arose, and the school children then awaited for the right answer to be given. In this session the point was made that it is not possible to decide whether there is a right or a wrong answer to this question, and before any comments could be offered we needed to find out information additional to the original question. When the difference between this type of problem and the convergent type was explained the problem was given again, and when the same question about crossing the river was asked the pupils realised that before
they could attempt an answer they must ask questions such as: how wide, is the river frozen over, is it necessary to cross, etc. before some of the best, but certainly not the only correct, solutions could be offered. This exercise serves to emphasise sharply the cultural tendency of our secondary education system to encourage convergent thinking at the expense of the divergent type. It is as if educationalists observed the real world in terms of solutions to problems and then produced a system different in nearly every respect. It is implicit if one reads a traditional examination paper, or observes those taking examinations, that problems in school are based at present on the following sets of rules. All problems last approximately half an hour; all the information is given, no more and no less; problems are solved alone; no copying from others is allowed; the problem has a definite solution. The distortion which these sets of rules produce in examinations of such essentially useful subjects as mathematics, which serve to emphasize to imaginative children their unreality to real life, are typified in the following trigonometrical example. A ship is anchored 300 metres from the shore. The angle subtended from the deck of the ship to the top of the cliff is 27 ° and the angle subtended from the top of the mast to the top of the cliff is 18 °. Calculate the height of the mast h. The nonsense of this question is immediate when related to the real life situation. A captain of a ship, having asked a member of the crew to ascertain the height of the mast, would consider he had a lunatic aboard if he found the crew member either at the bottom or top of the mast with a theodolite in his hand. Just as valid, and probably more difficult, would be to ask the student to suggest five ways to determine the height of a mast, commenting on the difficulty and accuracy for each method. Not only are problems in real life relevant and not abstract but they can be solved either quickly or take a very extensive period of solution. The information available may be either too little or too much. Other people should be involved, and it is advantageous to copy from the work of others. It is frightening to think of the
MATERIALS IN ENGINEERING, Vol. 2, JUNE 1981
number of responsible people in industry who may give up seeking solutions to problems because they have been taught at school that after a half hour's effort they should either have solved them, or are incapable of so doing. There must be many able engineers who find it difficult to shake off the habits of thought inculcated at school, and hence realise their true potential to industry. So also must there be many in non science and non technical career positions who have been turned away by their perceived absurdity of the above mathematical illustration, yet yearn for the opportunity to practice an engineering skill for which they have had no proper training. The number of people in non technical positions who have hobbies which show a high degree of engineering skill must surely be an illustration of this. Yet so divorced is our culture from science and technology that we have no word in English for 'the art of making things' and the downgrading of the word 'engineer' has been commented upon in the Finniston Report I and elsewhere. Possible Solutions
The rest of this paper will describe the kind of education system which should be examined. It is very important to arouse the interest and curiosity of children at an early date and so we suggest, in the way later described, that a start is made to introduce technological awareness in primary education. We tend to underrate the capacity for learning, especially at primary school, and the capacity to relate to outside life. The worst evil that any educational system can commit is to ensure that what happens inside school is totally unrelated to what happens outside. We need not teach everything in its chronological sequence. This is especially true of science, where it was observed that children were still being taught Dalton's hypothesis after the atomic bomb had exploded. It is most important to teach history by relating to what the child reads in the newspapers or hears from his parents. It is better to teach geography from the current state of developing countries. The number of children who must have been turned away from any interest in learning because of the remorseless grind through its chrono-
216
logy is frightening to contemplate. Chronology is important, of course, at a higher level of education, but this is where it should be left until after the understanding of the importance of the subject has been gained. We must also defer to as late a stage as possible the choice between a liberal and a scientific education. We often wonder, in the world of science and technology, why so many of our most able administrators have been educated in the liberal arts. We tend to feel this is because there has been a greater sense of vocation among the scientists and technologists, and certainly this cannot be ignored. We still have the terrible snobbery of regarding the scientist or engineer who has departed from the bench at an early age as being a failure, and yet no one criticises the historian who goes into the administration branch of the Civil Service, the linguistic scholar who finds his career in a hotel chain or the classicist who becomes a bank manager. If one analyses the content of the liberal arts courses, especially those related to history or the classics, one finds that in this education stream a person learns, whether explicitly or by a process of osmosis, how to deal with people, and in successful administration one must know how to deal with people. Far too many scientists with, once again, their convergent training, tend to deal with administration, when forced into it, as a mathematical system. This may be because they wish to retain some aspect of scientific credibility because their training has been too convergent, but most likely because nowhere in their training have they been exposed to the problems of dealing with people. Indeed, in most courses in science and mathematics, apart from a few great names, one does not really learn that people exist. One has only to remember the horror with which the Double Helix book 6 was greeted by the Scientific Establishment because it showed scientists as normal, fragile human beings. It is thus just as important for those who may eventually be capable of running a major firm in alarge industry to have gone some way with history or classics or language as it is to have dealt at length in pure mathematics or various branches of physics. We must,
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therefore, ensure that our 'A' level courses for entry into an engineering department are such that the student who had done, let us say, a technology 'A' level of the type described, plus history and, say, French or Latin at 'A' level standard is as acceptable in an engineering school as a person who has done maths, physics and chemistry. At the same time we must ensure that the same person who may decide to concentrate on history or languages at university has been sufficiently interested in the intellectual and imaginative challenge of a technology 'A' level to prefer it to another language or another liberal arts subject. We will then have senior administrators who at least understand technology, who at least appreciate the intellectual challenge in the art of making things economically and do not regard applied scientists and engineers as grubby fingered hacks who prefer to spend all their life at a bench surrounded by smelly chemicals or oily rags. When we have this kind of education which can keep open the choices of career up to the first entry into university, or even beyond, then we shall really have overcome the two cultures syndrome which C.P. Snow 7 so accurately defined as a peculiarly British problem. Previous Attempts
We recognise, of course, that we are not the first by many decades, to appreciate the problem, nor to attempt a solution. The Nuffield science courses, with their accompanying project, have attempted to illustrate the open ended nature of scientific problems. The principles are commendable, but a close study of project work shows that many people are, firstly, unhappy working in this open ended way and have little experience of the associated methodology. It is unrealistic to expect children to suddenly change their mode of thinking after many years of being assessed and taught in a convergent way. Other examples are the modern craft, design, technology and engineering courses such as Oxford 'A' level design and Cambridge 'A' level engineering. When taught by teachers with a design background, a knowledge of diverse thinking, and understanding of project methodology and physics and mathematics to 'A' level, then these courses are justifiably the equal of a science 'A' level. Unfortunately,
too few C, D and T teachers at the present time can adequately cope with these courses, and it is found that teachers from other parts of the arts and science curriculum have a poor understanding of the value of such courses.
Our Solution
Our approach is to suggest that in contrast to attempting to wrench students into more divergent modes, or, as De Bone would have it, lateral modes of thinking s, at a late stage in their development, we must introduce technology awareness at the primary stage. We must then gradually introduce technological capability in the secondary stage and, finally, to make technological options available as formal examination subjects at 'A' and degree level. The steps, therefore, are; technology awareness in primary education, technological capability in secondary education and technology options kept to as late a stage as possible. The primary system which bases much of its work around project activities is ideal for the introduction of technological awareness through the medium of the 'design process', which includes the concept of need, problem solving, developing solutions, designing and making things. A whole host of opportunities present themselves for linking in with other major inputs such as numbers, reading, writing and social skills. Technology can be seen to comprise those qualities and skills encouraged in the primary system such as creativity, working as a team, open ended problems and organisation; further, working with the world outside the classroom and using parents to assist with school work are already customary. Certain problems arise with the transition of the child from the primary to the secondary system. Subjects become more formal and distinctive, and within two further years the overriding influence of the examination system starts to dominate both the subjects studied and a preoccupation with the convergent analytical approach characteristic of our education system. Pupils entering the secondary system should continue the technological awareness theme started at the primary school and be introduced to the study of materials and processes, their
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relevance to both arts and science subjects, as incorporated in the 'third culture' principle. By the time pupils start to consider 'O' level options they will have learned that technological subjects require people with both creative and divergent talents. Students, however, will not have to commit themselves at this time to any set career pattern, since, with certain minor changes in the present 'O' level syllabi in subjects including mathematics, physics, chemistry, C, D and T, history, French and English they will be well equipped to elect for more specific choices at 'A' level. Even by the time a student reaches 'A' level he may still be uncertain as to a career. For this reason the following options would be open: 1. For the traditional science student who does not envisage an industrial career: mathematics, physics or chemistry; mathematics, physics, biology, etc. 2. For the student who is uncertain, or already knows he wishes to be an engineer: mathematics; physics, chemistry or biology; and technology. 3. For the imaginative student who wishes to delay his decisions as long as possible: history; French and technology. The latter child should be acceptable by universities offering engineering courses. Unfortunately the present indications are that university engineering departments are reluctant to consider any significant departures from their tradition of only accepting 'A' levels in mathematics, physics and chemistry. A good account of the resistance being experienced by those who are endeavouring to broaden the initial education of our potential engineers has been given by Deere in a paper recently published by Engineering 9 . Action Points
To achieve the kind of change in our school curriculum envisaged in this paper will require action by parents, schoolteachers, examination boards, universities, industry, Government and the children themselves. For any action to be taken it must be clear that there is a need for change. Such a need has already been expressed in the Finniston Report I and in the work of the Department of Industry
Industry/Education Advisory Committee and its predecessors t ° . These are the customers who require an improved product, i.e. children with a broader understanding of the role of education in our society and better equipped to be good engineers, designers and technological administrators. In any situation it is unlikely that improved products will be provided unless customers express a strong need for such a product. Hence the main initiative for change must come from industry and Government. Much encouraging action is already being taken and the mechanism for change already exists through the many industry education liaison units which are being set up. Some of the many organisations taking part in promoting this changing climate are listed in Appendix 3. For an improved product to emerge the process must be improved also, and this is the responsibility of parents, schoolteachers, examination boards and the universities. Parents must be convinced that there is a future for their children, educated in the manner described and this, again, is the responsibility of industry and Government to provide this conviction. Schoolteachers must be provided with the wherewithall to teach and here, again, Government and industry can help in the way which many industry education units have already pioneered. Examination boards must respond by providing examinations more suited to the new curricula and, finally, as has been said above, university professors must abandon their entrenched attitudes. Universities in this country are rightly proud of their tradition for promoting change. Engineering departments must not desert this tradition themselves. Anyone close to the industry education liaison movement cannot fail to feel the exciting pulse of change which is now throbbing within our educational system. A successful change along the lines proposed in this paper will help to ensure, for this country, a place as great in the twenty first century as it was in the nineteenth. References
1. 'Engineering our Future' Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Engineering Profession'. HMSO Cmnd. 7794 1980. 2. Hinton, Lord, The Decline in British Industrial Pre-Eminence. Address to
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Fellowship of Engineering. 24th March 1980. 3. Hudson, L, Contrary Imaginations, London: Methuen 1966. 4. Getzels, J.W. and Jackson, P.E. Creativity and Intelligence. New York: Wiley 1962. 5. Lewin, R.H. Fulmer Industry Education Project. A.S.E. Bulletin, p17, June 1980. 6. Watson, J.D. The Double Helix. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. 1968. 7. Snow, C.P.S. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. Rede Lecture 1959 8. De Bono, E.F.C.P. Lateral Thinking for Management a handbook of creativity. London: McGraw Hill 1971. 9. Deere. M. Design Education in Schools. 'Engineering' p. 699, June 1980. 10.Schools and Industry. A Guide to Schools/Industry Links, p.5. Cambridge: Hobsons Press 41923/79 1979. APPENDIX 1 CONVENTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TESTS
The conventional tests consist of questions in the form of puzzles. The individual is set a problem to which he is required to find the right answer; and he is frequently invited to choose this right answer from a list of alternatives. His reasoning is said to converge onto the right answer. 1. Typical questions might include: BIRD is to FEATHERS as FISH is to (SEA, SCALES, WEIGHT, FIN, NEXT). 2. In the list given there are three words which do not fit in with the rest. Cross them out. One word includes all the rest. Put a ring round it. NAIL, LADDER, CHISEL, HAMMER, SCREW, TOOL, SCREWDRIVER, SPANNER, SAW and PLANE. 3. Cross out what is not wanted in this sentence: I am not know going home to tea. 4. Underline the middle one of these: 8 8 8 8 8
4 7 3 3 4
7 4 4 7 3
3 3 7 4 7
5 5 5 5 4
Give the next in the series in the following: 343, 49, 7, 1........... AZ, BY, CX, DW . . . . . . . . . . . The standard intelligence test can
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vary between verbal, mathematical and visual testing, but it does appear that nearly every item is essentially a test based on assumption that the question has only one right answer. APPENDIX 2 DIVERGENT TESTS
In the open-ended tests which have been developed by Liam Hudson 3 , based on the work of Getzels and Jackson 4, different approaches have been employed, namely: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Use of objects Meaning of words Drawings Controversial statements Autobiography Personal qualities questionnaire
Use of Objects
In this test students are asked to think of as many different uses as they can for some of the objects listed below a barrel, a paperclip, a tin of boot polish, a brick, a blanket. Meaning of Words In this test each of the ten words
listea has more than one meaning. Students are asked to write as many meanings for each word as they can. The words are: bit, bolt, fair, first, peak, pitch,
port, sack and t~nder. Drawing
In this test the student is asked to draw a picture in the space provided. An example would be to illustrate the title - Zebra Crossing. Controversial Statements
A list of controversial statements is given to the students. They are asked to choose any one they wish and to comment on them in any way which seems approriate. 1. The happiest years of your life are spent at school. 2. Human nature being what it is, you cannot run a boys' school without corporal punishment. 3. Britain should withdraw from the next Olympic Games as a protest for the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia.
Autobiography The student here is asked to describe those aspects of his life which seem most interesting or important. There is no special form which the writer needs to take. Personal Qualities Questionnaire
What is needed here is to fill in a chart which indicates whether the
student personally approves or disapproves of the qualities listed below in some type of ranking. In the list, for example of which there are thirty questions, would be things such as: physically tough, highly imaginative mildly eccentric, gentleness, courage good team member. Liam Hudson suggests that the two types of tests should be considered as showing ability in two styles of reasoning: "the standard intelligence test" which relates to convergent ability and the "open-ended test" which shows divergent ability. APPENDIX 3
Careers Research and Advisory Centre. Standing Conference on Schools' Science and Technology. Industrial Society. National Centre for School Technology School's Liaison Service. Project Trident. Understanding British Industry. Department of Education and Science. Women's Engineering Society. Council of Engineering Institutions. ICFC - NUMAS. Working Mathematics Group. Young Enterprise. Schools Council. CBI.
A shortened version of this paper appeared in the Times Educational Supplement on May 22nd, 1981.
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