One Plus One Makes Thirty

Abstract

A typical engineering program includes 30 credit hours of general educational requirements (GER); which is over 20% of the requirements. Studies suggest that the GER are not meeting the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) intent “…of making young engineers fully aware of their social responsibilities…”A possible solution to the problem in the form of a one credit hour freshman foundations course and a one credit hour senior capstone course is recommended. The freshman foundations course is intended to make the entering engineering student aware of the social responsibility of the engineer, the value of the GER in meeting this responsibility, and recommended courses that will best fulfill this intent. The senior capstone course is intended to show the relationship between the social value issues analyzed in the courses that the engineering student has used to fulfill the GER and the technical issues covered in engineering courses. The sum of the two one credit hour courses should make the 30 credit hour program of GER more effective in developing a social sensitivity in the engineering student.