ABSTRACT
Engineering education is increasingly criticized for producing students who cannot ‘apply knowledge’ in industry, despite curricula emphasizing applied and practical knowledge. This chapter examines both real world and curricular instances of problem-solving to reveal that, contrary to assumptions embedded in the curriculum, natural, mathematical and computer sciences are underpinned by different kinds of knowledge. Drawing on the LCT concept of ‘epistemic relations’, which explores relations between knowledge and its objects, the underlying basis of effective engineering problem-solving is revealed. The analysis considers what the focus of a knowledge claim is and how the practitioner makes that claim across three stages of the problem-solving process. It reveals how successful learning entails shifting practices to be responsive both to the form of knowledge and the contexts in which problems occur. LCT therefore provides tools to enable educators to ‘see’ these differences and thereby improve how practical and technology-based subjects are taught in the curriculum.
