2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Student Takeaways from two Sociotechnical Modules in an “Applied Circuits” Course

Presented at Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES) Technical Session 6

Engineering requires both an understanding of technical content and of social contexts. However, engineering education often separates these two areas. To address this, we designed and implemented several sociotechnical modules that connect a social issue to a technical learning objective in a typical "Introduction to Circuits” course. This paper focuses on the implementation of two sociotechnical modules in a second-year “Applied Circuits” course at a large public university in the USA in Spring 2025. The study examines student insights from two one-hour sociotechnical modules: one focused on energy burden and the other on power prioritization. Semi-structured interviews with nine students were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Results show that students report developing greater empathy and awareness of the social dimensions of engineering, along with a better understanding of the real-world limitations, trade-offs, and consequences involved in engineering decision-making. Students reported moving beyond abstract technical reasoning to consider how engineering choices impact people, communities, and resource-constrained systems. These insights closely align with ABET student outcomes related to sociotechnical design and ethical responsibility. Overall, the findings suggest that one-class-period sociotechnical modules integrated into technical classes can effectively promote sociotechnical thinking in technical engineering courses and support accreditation-aligned educational goals.

Authors

Karen E. Nortz http://orcid.org/https://0009-0007-2088-0411 University of Michigan [biography]

Karen Nortz is a second-year PhD student in Engineering Education Research at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Cynthia J. Finelli http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9148-1492 University of Michigan [biography]

Dr. Cindy Finelli is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and David C. Munson, Jr. Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan, where she also serves as a professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and a professor of Education. She was the founding director and graduate chair of the Engineering Education Research Program for ten years, and previously served as founding director of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering for twelve years. Her research focuses on advancing faculty adoption of evidence-based instruction, supporting students with neurodiversities, and promoting social responsibility through engineering coursework. Professor Finelli is a Fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and has held editorial roles with the Journal of Engineering Education, the European Journal of Engineering Education, and IEEE Transactions on Education.
Dr. Susan M Lord http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2675-5626 University of San Diego [biography]

Susan Lord is Professor and Chair of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. She received a BS from Cornell University in Materials Science and Electrical Engineering (EE) and MS and PhD in EE from Stanford University. Her research focuses on the study and promotion of equity in engineering including student pathways and inclusive teaching. She has won best paper awards from the Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Education, and Education Sciences. Dr. Lord is a Fellow of the IEEE and ASEE and received the 2018 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award. She is a coauthor of The Borderlands of Education: Latinas in Engineering. She is a co-Director of the National Effective Teaching Institute (NETI).

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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