2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Using a human-centered engineering design mapping tool to inform ABET accreditation for an existing engineering design program

Integrating human-centered design (HCD) in engineering, such as through a “human-centered design and engineering” major, has gained ground in recent years. A handful of universities across the United States now offer programs in human-centered engineering design (HCED) or closely related disciplines. In previous work, we partnered with engineering faculty to develop an HCED mapping tool. We have used this tool in collaboration with faculty in the form of an interactive worksheet to support course development efforts.

In addition to course development, we have also used the mapping tool for program development efforts by collaborating with faculty in a four-year aerospace engineering program to track students’ competency development. We then collaborated with external faculty from the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) at the University of Washington (UW) to use the mapping tool in a new way: to support a human-centered design and engineering program in pursuing ABET accreditation. We mapped student learning outcomes to required courses in the program, which is one step in the course development process for integrating HCED. However, instead of doing this to identify opportunity areas for curricular improvement, our goal instead was to develop a map to provide evidence of continuous improvement (ABET Criterion 4). Furthermore, we applied the mapping tool to the program’s non-linear format, in which students craft course sequences such that they fulfill all required courses by the time they graduate.

These efforts demonstrate that competency development can be mapped and tracked regardless of whether or not all students take required courses in the same sequence. Also, the ability to map competency development within a program space can support accreditation needs and continuous improvement efforts for engineering programs. In showcasing a method for strategic program development, we highlight the importance of doing so for the continual evolvement of engineering education.

Authors

Mrs. Taylor Parks http://orcid.org/0009-0005-3311-7795 University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign [biography]

Taylor Parks is a course development fellow in engineering education at the Siebel Center for Design. She earned her bachelor's in engineering mechanics and master's in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on promoting teamwork in complex engineering problem solving through collaborative task design. She currently co-leads the integration of human-centered design principles within select courses across the Grainger College of Engineering.
Dr. Brock Craft http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1247-2457 University of Washington [biography]

Brock Craft is a Teaching Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Program in the department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington. His areas of specialization include Information Visualization, Human-Computer Interaction, and Instructional Design.
Mr. Alexander Pagano University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [biography]

Alex Pagano is a PhD student studying engineering design. His work is focused on the early phases of design and the use of human-centered design or design thinking as a teaching tool. Alex holds a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from University of
Mr. Saadeddine Shehab University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [biography]

I am currently the Associate Director of Assessment and Research team at the Siebel Center for Design (SCD) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I work with a group of wonderful and talented people at SCD’s Assessment and Research Laboratory to conduct research that informs and evaluates our practice of teaching and learning human-centered design in formal and informal learning environments.

My Research focuses on studying students’ collaborative problem solving processes and the role of the teacher in facilitating these processes in STEM classrooms.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025