2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper presents a novel approach to teaching topics of sustainability, life cycle analysis, equity, and social/environmental justice in materials lab courses. We have redesigned the written deliverables in a junior-level functional materials lab course to create a scaffolded sequence of assignments that guide students to engage with multiple aspects of sustainability and justice in materials engineering. Instead of traditional lab reports, we assign students to produce written deliverables in a variety of genres that prepare them for different professional scenarios they may encounter after graduation. Writing these deliverables requires students to complete holistic analyses of materials problems including environmental, ethical, and economic considerations while communicating with a variety of audiences.
This approach also has the added benefit of building students’ technical communication skills across a range of modes and mediums. While most of these deliverables are collaboratively written, we provide some opportunity for individual work to support each student’s communication competency and confidence. We approach communication as an ethical practice, and use detailed, strategic feedback to help students consider the ways their writing about material science research may contribute (or not) to larger social justice aims. Here, we present three such written assignments along with student outcomes, our lessons learned through this curricular reform, and suggestions for anyone interested in implementing similar changes in their courses.