2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Despite efforts to cast STEM fields in a more inclusive light, engineering and computer science are still perceived as ill-fitting and exclusionary by women and people of color. Another common misconception is that STEM content is too abstract to be relevant to everyday life. These perceptions affect efforts to ensure the involvement of underrepresented groups in STEM and efforts to shift the sometimes-exclusionary cultures of STEM workplaces and universities. In this work, we recast the paradigm of a robotics course into a more inclusive space by showcasing the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in engineering as well as highlighting both the value of engineering in crafting and of crafting in engineering by teaching robotics topics through a craft that has alternately been coded as masculine or feminine depending on time period and culture: weaving.

We developed an undergraduate introduction to robotics course that explores the connection of weaving and engineering through the rich engineering history of looms, the physical properties of cloth, incorporating electronics into cloth through e-textiles, and building robotic looms. Weaving patterns can be represented mathematically through the binary, matrix-like nature of the pattern, allowing the physical properties (feel and drapability) to be analyzed geometrically through an understanding of properties connected to engineering (yarn tension, weight, and interlacement structure). Furthermore, to create high-quality, complex cloth, weavers follow a process that mirrors the engineering design process. Weavers' desire to create more complex patterns and the industry's desire to mass produce these products has led not only to advancements in processes but also to multiple engineering innovations. For example, the development of modern automation was driven by the introduction of punch cards to program the first Jacquard looms which led to modern-day computers.

The course was supported by the use of RoboLoom, an open-source, educational, Jacquard loom kit, to bridge the gap between weaving and engineering in the classroom. This course was taught in the Spring of 2024 to 17 students from mayors ranging from art to computer science. Students were randomly distributed in interdisciplinary groups that were balanced by area of expertise. In these groups, students completed in-class interdisciplinary assignments and final projects. We conducted surveys and observations throughout the course to understand students’ experiences and how their attitudes toward math, weaving, engineering, and collaborative learning changed. Additionally, we conducted interviews to give students an opportunity to reflect and expand upon their attitudes and how they changed through the course experience. Finally, students reflected on each assignment in the course on how they used engineering or creative skills, how well the assignment worked for them, and how it could be improved. We received generally positive feedback from students who, in conclusion, valued learning interdisciplinary skills. In this work, we present our curriculum, findings, as well as reflections and recommendations for the design of this and other interdisciplinary engineering curricula. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education.