Leaders, researchers, and educators have advocated moving from educating engineers in a way that reinforces that engineering is a purely technical endeavor to one that recognizes that it is sociotechnical, and happens in a global context. As part of a National Science Foundation funded project, our engineering program is exploring ways for engineering educators to do this within required engineering courses. In this paper, we present an example of how content related to sociotechnical and global context was integrated into a required senior-level Heat Transfer course in mechanical engineering. We describe the design of the Social Relevance and Global Context Module and its use with students in Fall 2017. The module is designed for use in the Heat Exchanger section of the course. It is framed around a student-faculty project previously developed at our university and implemented in the Dominican Republic to provide affordable water heating for rural communities. First, students are presented with a quantitative problem related to the technical design of this water heater e.g. calculation of needed pipe length given other specifications. Then, they participate in a series of in-class activities designed to draw their attention to the context of this problem and additional design considerations for such a water heater. Finally, they write a memo in which they explore implications of contextual issues for the design of a water heater in different countries and consider other applications of course concepts. Together, these strategies can help students develop their skills with Heat Transfer calculations, consider Heat Transfer in sociotechnical and global context, and see the relevance of their Heat Transfer knowledge for other projects. Recognizing that instructors have many demands on their time, our module is designed to be easy to use and include activities for class and homework. Detailed instructor guides and materials are available in the Appendix so that other instructors could easily incorporate this module in their classrooms. We hope these examples might help other instructors incorporate these important themes into their Heat Transfer courses enabling more engineering students to include broader considerations in their engineering practice. Introduction Learning to consider the broad context of their work can help engineers develop better solutions. These solutions may also be more sustainable, economically feasible, and socially just and make positive change in the world. Helping students recognize that engineering itself is sociotechnical and consider the global context of their work is a goal of both University of San Diego and an element of ABET requirements [1]. It is also a significant challenge. Material that addresses these issues can be challenging to integrate into many traditional engineering courses. Faculty at the University of San Diego’s Shiley Marcos School of Engineering are developing new ways to meet this challenge. In recognition of the University’s work in social innovation, peace studies, humanitarian engagement and sustainability, it is recognized as an Ashoka Changemaker Campus [2]. The Shiley Marcos School of Engineering has developed synergistic efforts with this University-wide commitment. Through the “Developing Engineering Changemakers” project, funded by NSF’s REvolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments program, the University of San Diego is becoming a national leader in the development of new curricula to meet the challenge of helping current students become effective engineers. We are developing the Social Relevance and Global Context Module described in this paper in light of other efforts to develop innovative coursework for Heat Transfer classes. Research has shown that nontraditional pedagogy in Heat Transfer can develop student knowledge of a fundamental topic in mechanical engineering with complex and urgent sociotechnical implications [3].
It can also support the success of populations often underrepresented in engineering with liberative pedagogies [4] or provide them with opportunities to become more aware of their roles as engineers through service learning [5]. Our module aligns with ABET outcome h which requires supporting the “broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context,” which can be challenging to engage in traditional engineering classes. DeJong-Okamoto, Rhee, and Mourtos identify skills students need to be able to evaluate the impact of their solutions in a global/societal context and describe examples of course design elements that help students develop these skills that are incorporated into required and elective thermal/fluid courses [6]. The Social Relevance and Global Context Module explored in this paper presents a practical means of integrating social context into an engineering classroom, specifically for heat transfer. Materials and details are provided so that other instructors could easily incorporate this module into their classrooms. Research on engineering in practice indicates that solving engineering problems successfully is not only a matter of technical skill. Engineers must be sensitive to the sociotechnical nature of their profession and the context of their efforts to develop and implement workable, appropriate solutions [7], and that failures to do so can have consequences for their technologies [8].
While ability to reflect on the context of engineering solutions is associated with their success in the profession [9], training students to do this—and doing so in ways that are well-integrated into the rest of a course—is by no means easy. As historian Atushi Akera has pointed out, although current ABET criteria would ideally be considered a space for supporting educational innovation, these criteria are often just another set of requirements that educators must develop strategies to meet [10]. Indeed, ABET’s shift to focus on students as emerging professionals has valuable outcomes [11], but includes many challenges for educators [12]. Engineering education scholars Juan Lucena and Jon Leydens suggest incorporating contextual detail into more traditional technical problems that students are presented with. They propose doing so by asking traditional technical questions in ways that require students to interrogate potential circumstances of problems they are given in class [13]. This can be done in ways that do not forfeit the technical requirements demanded of an engineer, but rather complement learning in the classroom to better mirror (and prepare students for) the socio-technical work necessary for acting as Engineering Changemakers or, simply, for successful careers in engineering. This paper details the first iteration of a module to incorporate contextual detail in traditional technical problems that we are developing as part of a Heat Transfer course in Mechanical Engineering in University of San Diego’s Shiley Marcos School of Engineering. Here, we describe the design and integration into the course and evaluate the results using student memos and classroom observation. Based on this analysis, we have developed further plans for module development. Detailed instructor guides and materials are available in the Appendix. Course Context Student Population In Fall 2017, 28 students were enrolled in this section of a Heat Transfer course, including 5 women and 23 men. Two of these students were simultaneously enrolled in courses designed to deal extensively with engineering praxis that engages social justice, humanitarian goals, peace, and sustainability. These are taught by other faculty members in the Shiley Marcos School of Engineering but supported by the same “Developing Engineering Changemakers” project that framed the course module described here. Course Overview Mechanical Engineering 400: Heat Transfer is a required mechanical engineering course taken by students during their senior year. This course covers the basics of conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer with introduction to heat exchanger analysis and design, along with other applications. As stated on the course syllabus, this course is designed with learning outcomes including knowledge about steady and unsteady oneand two-dimensional heat conduction, internal and external convection, and basic concepts of radiation. In addition, the course is designed to teach students problem solving skills in energy-related areas and to understand the role that heat transfer plays in everyday life. This course was primarily taught by the lead instructor, a mechanical engineering professor. Three additional faculty were involved in the development of this module. One is a professor with expertise in engineering education and electrical engineering while the other two are postdoctoral research associates with backgrounds in social science and bioengineering. This multidisciplinary team worked together to design the Social Relevance and Global Context Module presented in this paper, and the two post-doctoral research associates led the experimental class and performed data analysis. Module Description The Social Relevance and Global Context module was designed for integration in the Mechanical Engineering 400 course, to be used in the Heat Exchanger section of the course, near the conclusion of the 16-week semester. It is framed around a student-faculty project that was previously developed at our university and implemented in the Dominican Republic (DR) to provide affordable water heating for rural communities [14]. This module has three parts: 1. Pre-class homework: Technical Calculation 2.
