Applying a knowledge-generation epistemological approach to computer sci- ence and software engineering education

This paper proposes a brief exploration of the epistemology of knowledge, specifically distinguishing the development of scientific knowledge from the development of engineering knowledge. Based on a pragmatic theory approach (1), the paper proposes a pattern for distinguishing the ‘science’ of computer science from its ‘engineering’ aspects. The paper then applies these distinctions to traditional Computer Science knowledge, and explores its relationship to ‘engineering science’. The implications of this knowledge-generation approach to discipline exploration are then applied to Software Engineering as an engineering discipline. This application aims at distinguishing Software Engineering from the scientific and engineering aspects of Computer Science. A cursory introduction to the literature of the philosophy of engineering reveals competing viewpoints on what distinguishes scientific from engineering knowledge, including engineering (and technology) as applied science (2 p. 42) and the influence of knowledge generation as a means to distinguish between ‘scientific’ and ‘engineering’ knowledge. When seen through the lens of a pragmatic theory of knowledge, the crucial characteristics of scientific knowledge include that scientific knowledge is theory bound, and scientific knowledge is developed to explain the way the world works. (1 p. 2) Engineering knowledge can be considered a distinct form of knowledge since scientific and engineering knowledge aim at different ends. In short, science aims to explain and technology/engineering aims to create artifices. "Technology, though it may apply science, is not the same as or entirely applied science" (3 p. 4).

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