Introducing Engineering as a Socio-technical Process

Cohen, Benjamin; Rossmann, Jenn Stroud; Bernhardt, Kristen L. Sanford

doi:10.18260/1-2--20699

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…So rather than the technology impacting stakeholders, as was stated by Student 10 above, stakeholders are impacted by a decision. Currently, we have not analyzed to what extent either perspective (technological determinist or social constructivist) is used by students, but it is important to note because most people and engineering students tend to give more agency to technology than to people 52,53,54,55 .…”

Section: Activity 3 Research Question 1: Socio-political and Stakeholder Influences On Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering and Sustainability: The Challenge of Integrating Social and Ethical Issues into a Technical Course

Andrade

Tomblin

2018 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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is a Lecturer in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Maryland College Park. Her responsibilities include teaching various undergraduate courses in environmental engineering (such as Engineering for Sustainability and Environmental Engineering Science) and conducting research focused on emerging organic pollutants and their environmental fate. She specializes in the production of stabilized biosolids, its use as a fertilizer and its impact on environmental pollution concerning organic contaminants. She has also specialized in redesigning engineering courses to make them more student-centered and encouraging of active learning. More recently, she started work on engineering education research that analyses the incorporation and effectiveness of engineering macroethics in-class activities that focus on sustainable development.

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Section: Activity 3 Research Question 1: Socio-political and Stakeholder Influences On Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering and Sustainability: The Challenge of Integrating Social and Ethical Issues into a Technical Course

Andrade

Tomblin

2018 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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“…It is unclear if the societal impact on engineering is also illuminated by the modules. This question is expanded in [20], which notes that since technology is often viewed as asocial, engineering work is often seen as outside of society, an idea that aligns with technicalsocial dualism [15].…”

Section: Criteria and Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The library of real-world engineering project modules described in [19] are intended to last for about two weeks, facilitating integration into existing courses. The sociotechnical integration described in [20] covers a full course. The "sequenced set of experiences" in [27] "was designed so that students would engage with communities to better understand the complex social, technical, and environmental risks that miners confront and then propose and, in some cases, develop projects to reduce those risks" [27, p. 3], and entails multiple semesters, though the same students are not necessarily engaged across the full-time frame.…”

Section: Criteria and Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-world Examples and Sociotechnical Integration: What's the Connection?

Erickson¹,

Claussen²,

Leydens³

et al.

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings

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“…These courses are primarily technical in nature. Other introduction to engineering courses (e.g., [7]) take a broader approach to introducing engineering as a socialtechnical system while focusing on the engineering design process and its broader societal implications.…”

Section: Table 1 -Characteristics Of a Technologically Literate Citizen (From [3])mentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiconductors and Society: A First-year Seminar

Nestor

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings

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Since the invention of the transistor 73 years ago, semiconductor technology has improved at an exponential rate following the self-fulfilling prophecy of Moore's Law. Improvements in semiconductor technology have in turn enabled remarkable improvements in communication and information technology, leading to major changes in the way people communicate, compute, acquire and use information, and seek entertainment.This paper describes a First-Year Seminar taught in 2017 and 2019 in which students from a range of different majors explore the history and societal impact of semiconductor and related technologies throughout the semiconductor era. The goals of the seminar are to provide students with a qualitative understanding of how semiconductors are designed and manufactured, an appreciation for how the technology has evolved and enabled new products and services, an awareness of the physical and economic factors that suggest an end to exponential improvement, and a perspective on how the end of exponential improvement might further impact society. Students can the use this perspective to make informed decisions about semiconductor and related technologies and to participate in the broader conversation about the technological choices faced by society.The course is structured as a historical survey that begins with precursor technologies that motivated the development of semiconductors, followed by the invention of the transistor and the integrated circuit, and the ongoing symbiotic relationship between semiconductors and communication and information technology that led to a "virtuous cycle" of exponential improvement. Students engage in reading and discussion along with short lectures describing the design and manufacture of semiconductors. Hands-on experiences involving coding and integrated circuit design are used to strengthen student understanding of basic concepts. Student writing assignments include reflections about their personal history experiencing technological improvements, reactions to the hands-on experiences, and a book report in which they explore one particular aspect of semiconductor technology and its societal impacts.Assessment of student writing assignments showed that students gained a qualitative understanding of semiconductor design and manufacturing and an appreciation for the changes brought about by advances in semiconductor technology and its applications. Future refinements to the course will include broadening coverage of impacts of semiconductors in the present day including environmental concerns, privacy/surveillance issues, and job losses due to automation.

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Introducing Engineering as a Socio-technical Process

Cited by 20 publications

References 12 publications

Engineering and Sustainability: The Challenge of Integrating Social and Ethical Issues into a Technical Course

Engineering and Sustainability: The Challenge of Integrating Social and Ethical Issues into a Technical Course

Real-world Examples and Sociotechnical Integration: What's the Connection?

Semiconductors and Society: A First-year Seminar

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