Educating the Whole Engineer: Cultivating Character Through Real-World Judgment

The purpose of modern engineering education extends far beyond formulas and technical proficiency. To prepare the next generation of professionals to truly flourish—and to ensure their work makes a positive impact on their communities—we must commit to educating the Whole Engineer.

While technical training has an established place in the classroom, the vital human competencies that define exceptional engineers do not always develop naturally in a traditional lecture hall.

The Whole Engineer Competency Set

To succeed in volatile professional contexts, graduates require a holistic balance of skills:

• Technical Excellence & Data-Driven Problem Solving

• Collaboration & Cross-Functional Teamwork

• Ethical Reasoning & Professional Responsibility

• Effective Communication & Leadership

• Character Development & Moral Judgment

The Challenge: Bringing Character into the Classroom

Cultivating and evaluating character—the foundation of ethical leadership and professional responsibility—is notoriously difficult within standard engineering curricula. To bridge this gap, our recent research-to-practice initiative investigates an innovative pedagogical approach: Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs).

Instead of treating character as an abstract concept, SJTs place students face-to-face with realistic, complex professional dilemmas. We investigated the use of these tests as a dual-purpose tool:

1. As a Pedagogical Tool: To actively cultivate character and spark critical self-reflection.

2. As an Evaluation Tool: To measure character development and moral reasoning in individual students over time.

Research & Insights: Do SJTs Work?

Our study deployed SJTs across diverse learning environments, including traditional engineering classrooms as well as specialized student leadership and communication training sessions. By analyzing student scores, instructor feedback, and reflective surveys, our research addressed two core questions:

• Do SJTs support character cultivation for students? By confronting realistic workplace scenarios, students move past passive learning and actively practice the ethical decision-making they will need in their careers.

• What value do educators find in this method? Thematic analysis reveals that instructors overwhelmingly see the value of SJTs. They view them as highly effective, scalable pedagogical tools that seamlessly integrate character education into standard engineering environments.

By embedding situational judgment directly into engineering education, we can move closer to a model that graduates not just technically proficient workers, but holistically developed leaders equipped for the flourishing of society.

Try Our Free SJT Course Today

Navigating "grey area" questions can be intimidating. What seems like common sense to one person might be a red flag to a recruiter. That’s why we’ve built a comprehensive resource to help you decode the logic behind the test.

"The secret to SJTs isn't finding the 'right' answer—it's understanding the core competencies the employer is looking for."