2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Pedagogical Workshops for Interdisciplinary Trading Zones with Faculty and Students: Insights from an Engineering-focused University

Presented at Interdisciplinary Integration at the Program Level

Interdisciplinary collaboration can facilitate the development of novel, thoughtful, and engaging sociotechnical curricula. While many forms of novel module development do so by focusing on the mechanics of a classroom activity, new assignment, or assessment strategy, the NSF funded Collaborative Research and Education Architecture for Transformative Engagement with STS (aka CREATE/STS) Project takes a different tack. This project was designed to stimulate interdisciplinary reflections on what we teach and why we teach it in the way we do. This critical, reflective approach is informed by thought in Science and Technology Studies (or STS) and critical feminist pedagogy.
In the following paper, we will describe the project, its participants, and a series of activities including three interdisciplinary workshops held at Colorado School of Mines in fall 2022 and spring 2023.These activities were planned to support the development of interdisciplinary collaboration, encourage student engagement, and facilitate reflection on the nature of educational institutions and interdisciplinarity. By doing so, the CREATE/STS Project seeks to not only to support faculty efforts to produce new materials for courses but, more fundamentally, disrupt the disciplinary silos that constrain our imaginations. Analyzing interviews with faculty and students involved in this work, we build insights related to the engineering-focused context which frames conditions for both the interdisciplinarity pedagogy and the student engagement that we work to foster. Our findings illustrate that while both interdisciplinarity and student engagement are limited by the institutional context of the workshops, they still can help participating students reflect on the limits of a traditional engineering education and consider their own ability to advocate for change.

Authors

Dr. Elizabeth A. Reddy Colorado School of Mines [biography]

Elizabeth Reddy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering, Design and Society at Colorado School of Mines. Reddy is a cultural anthropologist and science and technology studies scholar and Associate Director of the Humanitarian Engineering and Science program.
Courtney Van Kirk
Marie Stettler Kleine http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1461-716X Colorado School of Mines [biography]

Marie is currently an Assistant Professor at Colorado School of Mines in the Department of Engineering, Design, and Society. She holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering and international studies from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and PhD in STS from Virginia Tech. She conducts research on engineering practice and pedagogy around the world, exploring its origins, purposes, and potential futures. Marie’s interest in values and engagement in professional cultures also extends to innovation and its experts. With Matthew Wisnioski and Eric Hintz, Marie co-edited Does America Need More Innovators? (MIT Press, 2019).
Emily York James Madison University [biography]

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Integrated Sciences at James Madison University (JMU). Drawing on the fields of Science and Technology Studies (STS), cultural studies, innovation studies, communication, and the scholarship of teaching and lea
Dr. Shannon Conley [biography]

Shannon N. Conley is an assistant professor in the Bachelors Program in Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) at James Madison University. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Arizona State University, and her research and teaching focus on socia
Dr. David Tomblin University of Maryland, College Park [biography]

David is the director of the Science, Technology and Society program at the University of Maryland, College Park. He works with STEM majors on the ethical and social dimensions of science and technology. David also does public engagement with science and
Dr. Nicole Farkas Mogul University of Maryland, College Park [biography]

Nicole Mogul is a professor of engineering ethics and Science, Technology and Society at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Marisa Renee Brandt Michigan State University
Kathryn Peck

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