Addressing Issues of Justice in Design Through System-Map Representations

Alan Cheville; Stewart Thomas; Rebecca Thomas

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Breaking barriers, building futures: Narratives of equity and inclusion in STEM education
Tagged Divisions: Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46520

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Paper Authors

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Alan Cheville Bucknell University

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Alan Cheville studied optoelectronics and ultrafast optics at Rice University before joining Oklahoma State University working on terahertz frequencies and engineering education. While at Oklahoma State he developed courses in photonics and engineering design. After serving for two and a half years as a program director in engineering education at the National Science Foundation, he served as chair of the ECE Department at Bucknell University. He is currently interested in engineering design education, engineering education policy, and the philosophy of engineering education.

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Stewart Thomas Bucknell University orcid.org/0000-0002-5554-1475

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Stewart J. Thomas received the B.S. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky in 2006 and 2008, respectively, and the Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 2013. He has served on the organizing committee for the IEEE International Conference on RFID series since 2014, serving as the Executive Chair in 2022, with research interests in areas of low-power backscatter communications systems and IoT devices. He is also interested in capabilities-based frameworks for supporting engineering education. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Bucknell University in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Lewisburg, PA USA.

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Rebecca Thomas Bucknell University orcid.org/0000-0003-2426-4759

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Rebecca Thomas is the inaugural director for the Pathways Program at Bucknell University, where she oversees the rollout of Bucknell’s ePortfolio initiative. She is also a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering where she instructs the first-year design course for ECE majors. She holds a B.S. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

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Abstract

Over the last several years the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program at [added in final] has established a four-year ‘design thread’ in the curriculum. This six-course sequence utilizes a representational approach, having students frame design challenges through diagrams and drawings before starting to implement solutions. The representations students create provide eight lenses on the design process; several of these lenses capture elements of societal implications and social justice. Within the design course sequence, the third-year particularly emphasizes the larger societal and human contexts of design. A challenge in the third-year course has been having engineering students who are acculturated to quantitative and linear methods of problem solving, shift their perspectives to address complex societal topics. Such topics are usually described textually with rich qualitative descriptions. In an attempt to engage engineering students in societally-based design challenges the authors have integrated graphical design representations into the course. Such representations better align with engineering epistemology, potentially making the large body of work in the social sciences more accessible to students.

This paper reports on how a particular representation, the system map, is used to have third-year students explore systemic structures and practices that impact design decisions and processes. Students use system maps to identify ways design projects can impact on society in ways that have potentially negative consequences. Qualitative analysis of student system map artifacts over four course iterations was used in an action research approach to refine how to effectively integrate system map representations that capture societal issues and address issues of justice. Action research is an iterative methodology that utilizes evidence to improve practice, in this case the improving students’ facility with, and conceptions of, the societal impact of engineering work.

This practice-focused paper reports on how system maps can be used in engineering and what supporting practices, e.g. interviews and research, make their use more effective. Ways to utilize system maps specifically, and representations more generally, to connect technical aspects of engineering design to social justice topics and issues are discussed and examples provided to enable others to expand their repertoire of effective practices.

Citation
Format

Cheville, A., & Thomas, S., & Thomas, R. (2024, June), Addressing Issues of Justice in Design Through System-Map Representations Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46520

TY - CPAPER
AB - Over the last several years the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program at [added in final] has established a four-year ‘design thread’ in the curriculum. This six-course sequence utilizes a representational approach, having students frame design challenges through diagrams and drawings before starting to implement solutions. The representations students create provide eight lenses on the design process; several of these lenses capture elements of societal implications and social justice. Within the design course sequence, the third-year particularly emphasizes the larger societal and human contexts of design. A challenge in the third-year course has been having engineering students who are acculturated to quantitative and linear methods of problem solving, shift their perspectives to address complex societal topics. Such topics are usually described textually with rich qualitative descriptions. In an attempt to engage engineering students in societally-based design challenges the authors have integrated graphical design representations into the course. Such representations better align with engineering epistemology, potentially making the large body of work in the social sciences more accessible to students.

This paper reports on how a particular representation, the system map, is used to have third-year students explore systemic structures and practices that impact design decisions and processes. Students use system maps to identify ways design projects can impact on society in ways that have potentially negative consequences. Qualitative analysis of student system map artifacts over four course iterations was used in an action research approach to refine how to effectively integrate system map representations that capture societal issues and address issues of justice. Action research is an iterative methodology that utilizes evidence to improve practice, in this case the improving students’ facility with, and conceptions of, the societal impact of engineering work.

This practice-focused paper reports on how system maps can be used in engineering and what supporting practices, e.g. interviews and research, make their use more effective. Ways to utilize system maps specifically, and representations more generally, to connect technical aspects of engineering design to social justice topics and issues are discussed and examples provided to enable others to expand their repertoire of effective practices.
AU - Alan Cheville
AU - Stewart Thomas
AU - Rebecca Thomas
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Addressing Issues of Justice in Design Through System-Map Representations
UR - https://peer.asee.org/46520
ER -