Asee peer logo

Applying STS to Engineering Education: A Comparative Study of STS Minors

Download Paper |

Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Integration at the Program Level

Tagged Division

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES)

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42279

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/42279

Download Count

124

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

MC Forelle University of Virginia

visit author page

MC Forelle is an assistant professor, teaching track, in Engineering & Society at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. Their work examines the intersection of law, technology, and culture, with particular interests in materiality, sustainability, and practices of resistance and change. Currently, they are developing a a book project that studies the technological challenges faced by users, tinkerers, and repair communities working to repair, maintain, and modify software-enabled automotive technologies, and the various legal avenues they are pursuing to resist corporate control over their devices.

visit author page

biography

Kent A. Wayland University of Virginia

visit author page

Kent earned his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Virginia and is now a Lecturer in the Department of Engineering and Society, School of Engineering and Applied Science, at the University of Virginia

visit author page

biography

Bryn Elizabeth Seabrook University of Virginia

visit author page

Bryn Seabrook is an Assistant Professor in Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Virginia. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, Science and Environment with a minor in Vocal Performance in 2012, a Master of Science and Technolo

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

In recent years, the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has seen tremendous growth in universities across the United States. The majority of this growth is through the introduction of STS departments and programs into liberal arts divisions. However, a subset of these new STS programs are being integrated in engineering and other STEM-focused institutions, frequently in the form of STS minors. The purpose of this study is to expand on previous work by Neeley, Wiley, and Seabrook (2019), who in “In Search of Integration: Mapping Conceptual Efforts to Apply STS to Engineering Education,” argue that the perspectives and analytical frameworks STS offers are essential for helping engineering students critically understand the process of developing, executing, and implementing a successful major design experience, and for understanding the impact of technological innovation in a holistic sense. An STS minor has the additional advantage of providing students with a recognized credential in this skill set. Thus, in this paper, we ask further: how are STS minors being designed to provide this critical education as well as attract student attention and fulfill the mission of the school? This working paper considers the design, purpose, and execution of the STS minor in an engineering or other STEM-focused institution. The authors analyze materials such as enrollment numbers, course requirements, program descriptions, marketing materials, and integration with the school’s general curricula to identify patterns across STS minors in STEM schools. We are particularly interested in the skill sets that these minors offer engineering students, how this skill set is imparted through course requirements, and how the program explains the importance of the skill set to engineering practice and post-graduation outcomes. Our goal is to understand the state of current practice, and to build toward recommendations to making STS a valuable complement to an engineering education.

Forelle, M., & Wayland, K. A., & Seabrook, B. E. (2023, June), Applying STS to Engineering Education: A Comparative Study of STS Minors Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42279

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015