Universal Design in the Technology Education Curriculum: Experiences from Norway
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https://hdl.handle.net/10642/5220Utgivelsesdato
2017Metadata
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Originalversjon
Sandnes FE, Eika H: Universal Design in the Technology Education Curriculum: Experiences from Norway. In: Berg A, Bohemia E, Buck L, Gulden T, Kovacevic A, Pavel N. proceedings of E&PDE 2017 – International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education. Building Community: Design Education for a Sustainable Future, 2017. The Design Society p. 108-113Sammendrag
In recent decades the engineering and technology education curriculum has changed from being purely
technical oriented towards being more socially aware. In addition,
to
adequately
master technologies
and
subsequent
technical problem solving, engineers need to be
alert to
potential
social impacts of
their work and reflect upon their decisions
accordingly
. Most engineering studies have included
elements of ethics for some time. During the last decade, environmental issues including renewable
technology have gained an increasing emphasis. A growing trend is that legislation
in various
countries requires
that
the presence of universal design, being it the
physically-built environment or
the virtual environment, be accessible to as a large segment of the population as possible. These new
expectations
demand
engineers to be aware of the problems and the impact of their work
as well as being trained to design with universal accessibility in mind. This paper briefly reviews the
phenomenon of universal design, the recent trends in standards and legislation,
and how these changes
are affecting the engineering profession. Experiences with the inclusion of universal design in
engineering education curriculum at several higher education institutions in Norway are provided.