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Contextual inquiry: seven guideposts of investigating a community's context
Khalid, Muhammad Talal Appiah, Listowell Witmer, Ann-Perry
Khalid, Muhammad Talal
Appiah, Listowell
Witmer, Ann-Perry
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EESD2025_#18_Khalid.pdf
Adobe PDF, 340.77 KB
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Date
2025
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Geographical Setting
Abstract
This article presents a practical model to deepen engineers' understanding of contextual implementation of technological interventions. It starts with underscoring the critical importance of community's context for sustainable deployment of technological interventions and introduces the Contextual Engineering (CE) approach as an alternative to traditional engineering methods. It then highlights a key area for improvement of the CE framework by providing guidance on how to more rigorously identify the intersection between community context and technological interventions. The article proposes seven guideposts that engineers can use to begin forming a comprehensive understanding of the technology-context relationship including: (i) productive use in context, (ii) interoperability with existing systems, (iii) alignment with strategic objectives, (iv) compatibility with the physical environment, (v) attitude towards learning, (vi) cultural fit, and (vii) confidence in technological interventions. These guideposts are not intended to be a rigid checklist to follow, but rather flexible directives that practitioners can revisit and adapt as they progress in their journey of contextual inquiry.
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Keywords (free text)
community partnerships, contextual engineering, engineering education, engineering for sustainable development, education for sustainabilty, sustainability in engineering