Mathematicians and Scientists Teaching Engineering Courses: Practices, Advantages, and Concerns

Engineering is highly intertwined with science and mathematics.The connection between the three fields of engineering; and mathematics and science is illustrated based on the commonly known and ABET definitions of mathematics and science with those of engineering.An evidence of this connectivity lies in STEM which is a recent field that has been highly visible in the last twenty years.It stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.Students have been noticeably swayed away from these crossing disciplines for various reasons.STEM was partially created to attract students back to these careers again.Discussions are made based on the fact that although engineering has many definitions in the literature, all of them point to a common description.Engineering is basically the application of mathematics and science to solve society's real life problems.Design is a, or perhaps the, key aspect of engineering.This is exactly why engineering students have to take several mathematical courses that can be as high as four or even more at some institutes.They have to take other courses in natural sciences like physics, chemistry, geology, and even biology in some cases, as well.They also must take courses in social sciences.The purpose of such requirements is to have a body of knowledge in mathematics and science extensive enough to apply in their engineering courses and later in their professional careers.The general framework of the engineering curriculum is illustrated with examples in the context of the topic of this article.Mathematics and science courses almost entirely make up the 1 st year and continue partially in the 2 nd year in a typical engineering curriculum.The curriculum starts to include basic engineering courses in the 2 nd year.Advanced and specialized engineering courses are undertaken in the 3 rd and 4 th years.This is in line with ABET and other global accreditation requirements.Scientists and mathematicians follow different paths.This clearly shows that having backgrounds in mathematics and science is a necessary condition for engineers, but it is definitely not sufficient.Engineers have to have many profound engineering courses on top of basic and advanced mathematics and science courses in their engineering curricula.A scan was made regarding the topic of teaching engineering courses by mathematicians and scientists rather than engineers.On one hand, it was found that mathematicians and scientists are enlisted in engineering departments at several elite universities.On the other hand, almost all institutes of higher education require a degree or more in engineering to be engineering instructors in their announcements.This is especially the case with community colleges.Universities in general leave the door a little bit open in this regard.For universities, the required academic credential to become an engineering instructor is crafted as an advanced degree in the intended engineering field or in "a closely related field."This closely related field can be interpreted as a similar engineering field, but it can also be expanded to include other fields like mathematics and science.The paper looked critically but objectively at the topic of mathematicians and scientists teaching engineering courses.It discussed the practices, advantages, and concerns associated with this engineering education topic.Of course, the purpose of it is to promote engineering education.