Collaborative Research: Integrating Sociotechnical Issues into Electrical Engineering Starting with Circuits

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by enhancing the preparation of engineering students through helping them address sociotechnical issues in electrical engineering (EE). Typically, the undergraduate engineering curriculum emphasizes purely technical topics, but real engineering problems involve complex social issues and require both technical and social expertise. Most engineering instructors have been educated with a deep technical focus, they have little experience outside of engineering, and they feel ill-equipped to integrate non-technical topics. This project aims to help engineering instructors integrate sociotechnical issues into their courses by developing four modules for an introductory circuits course. Each module is linked to technical circuits topics, and each emphasizes a different sociotechnical issue such as the conflict minerals (minerals sourced from an area with armed conflict that impacts the trade of those minerals) needed for electric circuits components and repurposing of electric vehicle batteries. Circuits is typically the first course in the EE curriculum, and it enrolls students from many disciplines. Thus, inspiring engineering instructors to implement these sociotechnical modules in introductory circuits courses has the potential for far-reaching influence on the field. The modules are intended to be implemented in the middle years of the college experience, when students are forming their engineering identities, and they should help students achieve key accreditation outcomes related to social and global perspectives. This project hopes to impact the professional formation of over 900 students in 14 courses across six institutions. Including sociotechnical issues in a fundamental course such as circuits sends a powerful message to students about what is valued by the field, and that message can have a significant impact on students, particularly those who have been historically marginalized in EE including women and students of color. A sociotechnical module on conflict minerals has already been developed by one of the Principal Investigators (PIs) and tested in a circuits course taught by that PI. A cohort of EE graduate students will be recruited to assist in developing other modules using principles of backwards course design to create learning objectives, instructional activities, and post-class assessments with homework and exam questions for each module. These graduate students will be better prepared to teach EE courses that promote a sense of social responsibility. After pre-piloting each module at a small private institution (University of San Diego) and piloting it at a large public research institution (University of Michigan; UM), the use of these modules will be scaled up to other large circuits courses at UM and at four other institutions. Student feedback will be used to refine the modules and explore the experiences of the engineering instructors and students who engage with them. Assessment will focus on the effectiveness of the modules at reinforcing technical content, promoting students’ sense of social responsibility, and disrupting students’ adherence to normative cultural beliefs. Successfully implementing these sociotechnical modules in a range of different contexts should enhance the likelihood of widespread adoption and will provide a model for development of sociotechnical modules in traditional engineering classes which can be adapted by other instructors. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.