Appropriate Technology in Engineering Education: Mastering Appropriateness Through Liberal Arts

Abstract

Appropriate technology had been proven to give benefits for local people even in very limited circumstances. However, the idea of technological appropriateness was only learned in limited number of engineering educations. Furthermore, it was only included as part of specific subject, which resulted in limited understanding. Debates about the meaning of appropriateness made appropriate technology as only an approach as a means to provide cheap technology with limited functions. On the other hand, liberal arts provide unique ways to learn something through subjects which have indirect or even almost no relationship with it. It gives opportunity that abstract meaning of appropriateness can be learned by using liberal arts. This study aims to provide opportunity how to learn appropriate technology through liberal arts. The keypoints of technological appropriateness are based on previous important studies. They are expanded by using exploratory and explanatory study. The result is an overview of mastering appropriateness through liberal arts. It can be used by engineering educators to provide deeper understanding about technological appropriateness without giving too much specific subjects for students. By looking at previous studies which tend to treat appropriate technology as a field science which can only be learned directly on the field, this study throws a new understanding on how to study appropriate technology simultaneously using many other subjects based on liberal arts.

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