Special session - continuing the FIE 2007 conversation on: Can philosophy of engineering education improve the practice of engineering education?

The purpose of this special session is to continue the conversation began at FIE 2007 that asked the question “Can philosophy of engineering education improve the practice of engineering education? The session is summarised on http://www.ws. binghamton. edu/PhilEngEd/ It has become clear that this debate fits in with a broader and international debate on philosophy of engineering that although not directed at the philosophy of education has outcomes that bear on the curriculum and instruction. Some one hundred papers on engineering philosophy have been published in the last three years. A paper summarizing some of the features of these studies accompanies this discussion in the Proceedings. During the year Smith has revisited his suggested reading on the philosophy of education and that is also in the Proceedings. Together this work has enabled us to refocus the issues in order that as a group we can develop our thinking.