Concept development in microengineering: unpacking underlying processes and developmental paths.

Concepts are a matter of importance for engineering education. Believed to be critical for developing expertise and engineering competence, conceptual knowledge has become a focus for research and training. Despite focusing on it, engineering graduates still often do not understand core concepts for their practice. With a few exceptions, most research concerning conceptual knowledge in engineering has been developed on assumptions of cognitive psychology, which have been subject to strong criticisms. One of these criticisms points out that mainstream approaches on concepts do not account for the socio-material conditions in which concepts are used and transformed. Some researchers in engineering education have moved beyond, taking a situative perspective. These studies have shown how, compared to training, knowledge in the practice is highly contextualized, depends on tools in which it is inscribed, and is distributed among collaborators. However, while stressing the sociomaterial dimension of conceptual knowledge and the differences in concept use between training and practice, the situative perspective does not account for the way in which conceptual knowledge develops. Alternatively, the cultural-historical theory of concepts offers an approach that overcomes the weaknesses of mainstream approaches while addressing the problem of development. Drawing on culturalhistorical theory, this paper presents an ongoing research aimed at the study of concept development in microengineering teaching and practice. I will present the respective methodological approach—borrowed from a French tradition of work psychology—for studying concept development from interactions in work and teaching activities. Expected results and implications for engineering education will also be discussed.