2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The purpose of this practice paper is to share the methodology and results of a newly developed activity sequence for engineering courses in which sociotechnical case study development is student-led. Case study engagement is a valuable way to ground engineering technologies in real life contexts so students can examine the social implications of engineering work (McDade, 1995). Currently, the integration of case studies in engineering classrooms is almost entirely teacher-led, where a prepared study is given to the students for discussion and evaluation. The work explored in this paper takes this approach a step further by centering students in case study selection and development. With this new approach, we aimed to:
1. Center the students’ voices, as of members of a particular cultural community, in narratives about the ways in which technology impacts different communities
2. Challenge students to consider the nuances of power, identity, and positionality within those narratives
3. Generate a more authentic exchange wherein peers of different cultural identities collectively develop critical understandings of expertise, engineering history, and technological development.

In a series of scaffolded assignments, we asked students to choose an instance where technological design or engineering innovation has impacted people in communities or identity groups to which they, the students, also belong. The students insert themselves in the analysis, reflecting on how technology and design have impacted their lives, for better or worse. We have integrated this approach in our classrooms not necessarily as a replacement for the prepared, instructor-led case studies, but as a supplement to better prime students to empathize with communities impacted by design. This approach is rooted in culturally sustaining (Paris & Alim, 2017), culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, 2021), and critical pedagogies (Friere, 1970).

The student-led approach also offers a robust opportunity for critical self-reflection and self-knowledge; and this work can be tied to ethical engagement or establishing a personal code of ethics grounded in lived experience and cultural values. Additionally, we feel that this activity shapes the classroom as a terrain of struggle and site of possibility by placing emphasis and value on students’ lived experiences and cultural histories as valid forms of knowledge–they are authorities on the topic and are treated as such. They are encouraged to question predominating narratives that uncritically present technology and tech companies as forces for “good.” We often teach engineering ethics in the context of one’s professional responsibility, but these lessons are not typically attuned to cultural difference. The student-led case study offers a heuristic for self-knowledge that we feel is essential for establishing relational responsibility across differences and also centers equity and empathy in communication and design.