What Faculty Wish First-Year Students Understood About Calling and Vocation: The Genesis of a New Textbook

About What Faculty Wish First-Year Students Understood About Calling and Vocation: The Genesis of a New Textbook

Abstract

The mission statement of the Geneva College Engineering Department calls for “developing engineering professionals [to see] their careers as a calling from God in which they may glorify him and love their neighbors…”. The Introduction to Engineering (EGR 101) course for incoming freshmen has presented a Biblical view of calling as applied to the engineering profession. A previous paper compared available textbooks and varying degrees of emphasis, highlighting the effectiveness of increased focus on calling. In 2007, the readings and discussion were relocated to the Learning & Transition (L&T) seminar, where calling could be better integrated with career exploration. Course surveys and evaluation of final papers from previous offerings of EGR 101 will be compared to those from the recent offering of L&T to assess the efficacy of this move. Initial feedback indicates that this relocation of course content makes it more difficult for students to see the connection between general texts on calling and the engineering profession. This deficiency in integration reemphasizes the need for a textbook on calling and vocation with a specific engineering focus. We envision this text to be a self-supporting introduction to the concepts of calling and vocation in engineering. The text must include the Biblical foundations of a Christian worldview illustrated with modern engineering examples. It should introduce the specific vocation of engineering and address the question incoming engineering students need to ask themselves: Am I called to be an engineer? More importantly, they need to ponder if they are called to be engineering students. The text should provide a means for students to consider these questions as well as advice for academic success. The first author has initiated the project, and in this paper presents an outline and structure together with a process for the completion of this text. Currently, we propose the following chapters for the text: Chapter 1: Why We Do What We Do: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation Chapter 2: Christian Understanding of Vocation Chapter 3: Engineering as a Christian Vocation Chapter 4: Reality Check: Am I Called to Be an Engineer Or an Engineering Student? Chapter 5: What Does It Take to Be a Faithful Engineering Student? The process will include departmental, student, and peer review of the text, ultimately leading to publication in a form which could be used in Christian colleges or by the Christian engineering student seeking a better understanding of his/her place in God’s world.