Conceptualizing First Principles Thinking in Engineering Education.

This research paper provides a case study of a large Engineering Science program, with a particular focus on perceptions and practices related to first principles thinking from alumni, faculty and students. As part of a broader project designed to realign program goals, practices and outcomes, this study included semi-structured interviews and focus groups, designed to understand how program stakeholders conceptualize first principles thinking, and how they perceive the benefits or utility of such an approach. Through the historical analysis of the engineering curriculum, a key tension identified is the focus on foundational mathematics and science, which is contrasted with a focus on professional practice and the applications of engineering work. An interest in emphasizing mathematics and science led to the launch of a number of undergraduate and graduate programs around the world in Engineering Science, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, and the persistent inclusion of a comprehensive foundation in mathematics and science in engineering programs. This foundation has enabled a focus on first principles as part of the teaching and learning discourse in some engineering programs. More recently, first principles thinking has also been discussed in the popular technology discourse as connected to innovation. Here, it is described as a method used to identify and reason from the most fundamental truths in our knowledge base to support problem solving and innovation. While many stakeholders have a vague awareness of first principles thinking as a philosophy of knowledge construct, there is a gap in conceptualizing this in the engineering and education literature. Thematic analysis was used to identify several key findings. First, while some stakeholders viewed first principles thinking as a learning and problem solving strategy, others tied the practice to the disciplinary knowledge itself, for example, key theories and equations and their derivations. While these two conceptualizations are related, the latter provides less room for transfer to the engineering problem solving process, and stakeholders expressed an interest in building this opportunity to transfer the skill to other engineering contexts. Second, different stakeholders viewed the utility of the approach differently; for example, while alumni articulated the benefits of building first principles reasoning as a skill, students felt that the practice was more tied to a career in research and less useful in other engineering settings. Third, students in particular noted the challenge in maximizing the learning benefits associated with first principles thinking with the heavy workload and knowledge base in engineering. These results provide some avenues for the examination of first principles thinking in engineering education, particularly in considering the interplay between disciplinary knowledge and learning skills, and the need to balance first principles thinking with other considerations in the curriculum. We hope this work will open the door to future inquiry about the value of first principles thinking in the development of life-long learning and innovation in engineering. Furthermore, reconciling the historical focus on fundamental math and science in engineering with a more contemporary view on first principles thinking should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]