2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Using data collected during a small workshop aimed at socio-technical integration, we explore how affective environments influence a sense of belonging. We will use affect theory as a guide for crossing the socio-technical divide through space (Anderson 2014). This theory can help us see how affect plays a strong role in experience and motivating people to feel comfortable working together. In particular, we lean on this theory to show how constructing affective conditions can lead to a particular outcome with a newly formed group of undergraduate students and faculty from multiple disciplines. The ultimate aim of the workshop was for faculty participants to create interdisciplinary course modules. The workshop was held in an experimental teaching space and participants included two engineering faculty, three non-engineering faculty (policy, student affairs, and business), and seven undergraduates from a variety of disciplines (engineering, policy, landscape architecture, information studies, computer science, and business). We collected data through participant observation, interviews, written reflections, and focus groups. Qualitative coding was used to analyze how participants responded to the space and activities. This paper will provide examples of outcomes from affective interventions to create a collaborative atmosphere. Our results suggest that such interventions can create synergies across disciplines, but also encounter many existing obstacles to interdisciplinary work.