This study seeks to investigate how chemical engineering students from South African low-income communities locate knowledge structures. The study used an existing Engineering Related Beliefs Questionnaire (ERBQ) to evaluate beliefs of 268 chemical engineering students. The questionnaire collects additional information by allowing open-ended responses on each item to increase reliability of the questionnaire. Findings suggest that more than 60 per cent of students believe that engineering knowledge cannot be argued, and that learning takes place only when the lecturer transmits knowledge. Engineering educators may consider a humanizing pedagogy, which create opportunities for students from low-income communities to be liberated and reduce the dependency culture. Application of this pedagogy may assist students to achieve life long learning whilst developing necessary soft skills like independent thinking and innovation.

中文翻译：

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探索工科学生的认知信念和动机：以南非大学为例

本研究旨在调查来自南非低收入社区的化学工程系学生如何定位知识结构。该研究使用现有的“工程相关信念问卷”（ERBQ）评估了268名化学工程专业学生的信念。问卷通过允许对每个项目进行开放式回答来提高问卷的可靠性，从而收集其他信息。研究结果表明，超过60％的学生认为工程知识不能被争论，并且只有当讲师传播知识时才能进行学习。工程教育者可以考虑采用人性化的教学法，这为来自低收入社区的学生创造了解放的机会，并减少了依赖性文化。