2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A Sociotechnical Module: Integrating Indigenous Use of Materials in a Material Science Course

Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) is rarely integrated into technical engineering curricula, despite offering valuable alternatives to dominant Western material paradigms, particularly in the context of sustainability. To address this gap, we designed and implemented a one-class-period sociotechnical module using backward course design for a required third-year introduction to materials science course at a small private university. The module aligns learning objectives with targeted activities to support meaningful engagement with Indigenous perspectives on material use.

The module centers on materials of cultural and functional significance in Indigenous communities, guiding students to connect material identity, technical function, and geographic context through a regional lens from various North American tribes and nations such as the Kumeyaay of California and the Tlingit of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Indigenous approaches to material selection foreground reciprocity, adaptability, and sustainability, offering valuable frameworks for engineering education. These perspectives were intentionally embedded into the learning design through Indigenous knowledge systems and practices, including the Honorable Harvest and Full-Use Principle.

Student learning was assessed using three sources of data: an exit ticket, post-class homework, and an anonymous post-class survey. The study investigated how engagement with the module influenced student perceptions of value in engineering and identified specific instructional features that supported or hindered student learning.

Exit ticket responses demonstrated immediate student engagement with the Full-Use Principle and the ability to interpret Indigenous technologies as sophisticated engineered solutions rooted in both material properties and cultural practice. Post-class homework showed that students successfully synthesized technical reasoning with cultural ethics, specifically by applying the Honorable Harvest as a design constraint rather than an abstract concept during material selection. Finally, the survey confirmed that the module broadened students' perceptions of material value, with respondents spontaneously highlighting Indigenous sustainability frameworks as essential components of modern engineering education.

Analysis of student work provided pedagogical insights for future revisions. This work offers a practical model for implementing culturally responsive, sociotechnical instruction that enhances student capacity to navigate complex, interdisciplinary engineering challenges.

Authors

Vivien Papp University of San Diego [biography]

Vivien Papp graduated from the University of San Diego in 2026 as an Honors student with a B.S./B.A. with a Sustainability concentration in Integrated Engineering. She is a member of the Navajo Nation and her interests include wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, and environmental justice. She enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time outdoors, especially with her dog, Keke. She was selected by faculty to receive the Outstanding Senior Award in Integrated Engineering. She is also a member of the Alcalá 100 and completed the Industry Scholars Program with the 2024–2025 cohort. She was the inaugural speaker for the USD Tribal Liaison Indigenous Speaker Series to elevate Indigenous voices where she spoke on the motivation, impact, and result of her work for this sociotechnical module.
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