Rural knowledge practices and engineering study: A case study from South Africa

CONTEXT Rurality is a complex phenomenon that can be understood as both a demographic and social category that intersects with other categories, such as race, gender, and social class. Success on the part of students from rural backgrounds requires that HEIs recognize and value the knowledge practices that these students bring to their experiences of higher education. The term 'knowledge practices' refers to the knowledge gained from social, cultural, ecological and epistemological activities. PURPOSE OR GOAL This paper seeks to understand the knowledge practices - pertaining specifically to mathematics, science, and language - that a sample of engineering students from rural backgrounds brought with them from their rural contexts. The paper reflects on how these knowledge practices are deployed within engineering teaching and learning. APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS Data was collected within an interpretive, qualitative, case study design. The case under investigation is a faculty of engineering at an HEI in South Africa. Eight second-year engineering students from rural areas were purposively sampled. These students participated in a three-part data collection process, including the development of 'digital documentaries', individual interviews, and a focus group discussion. The qualitative data was coded using Atlas.ti and analysed thematically. OUTCOMES The knowledge practices that rural students develop through their upbringing include, for example, practices such as estimation, knowledge pertaining to the natural environment, and communication. However, these knowledge practices are not adequately recognized or employed within their engineering studies, even by the students themselves. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY Alternative forms of knowledge remain unrecognized within higher education, such that even many of those who possess such knowledge fail to recognize its value. Identifying ways of recognizing traditional knowledge systems may serve to enrich engineering curricula and enhance rural students' learning.