Online Session Locator

Session Description

A Sunday afternoon devoted to the fine art of not agreeing and not knowing. This two-part workshop explores two dimensions of productive discomfort. Brought to you by Engineering Unleashed with Drs. Ranen McLanahan and Doug Melton.
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Contrarian Thinking: Your Underappreciated Force for Good (and Institutional Change)
1:00 – 2:10 PM

Start your ASEE by learning to disagree in a way everyone will thank you for! Research shows that a single dissenting voice in a group dramatically improves outcomes, even when the dissenting idea is initially wrong. But disagreeing with others isn't always easy. It can carry very real social costs, especially when power asymmetries are in play. So, how do we bring in the power of contrarian thinking without the costs? This hands-on, deeply experiential session gives you the tools to do exactly that.

• Experience the research through hands-on exercises that reveal how groupthink operates and what breaks it.
• Gain a practical toolkit for structured dissent that builds the productive part of contrarian thinking into any design or decision process automatically.
• Answer a deceptively simple question that can reshape how your team, classroom, or institution handles conflict (possibly forever).

This may be the most productive disagreement you'll have all conference.
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Staying in the Question: AI, The Quad, and the Future of Engineering Education
2:20 – 3:30 PM

In this 70-minute workshop, participants will explore The Quad—a framework for engineering education grounded in experiential learning, narrative identity, character formation, and entrepreneurial mindset. Drawing on learning-science research and the challenge of AI-assisted performance without durable learning, the session presents a pedagogical approach that keeps students engaged in uncertainty, reflection, and cognitive struggle. Participants will experience an accelerated demonstration using two AI-enhanced tools designed not to remove difficulty, but to scaffold thinking while preserving the friction where learning occurs. Rather than treating AI as an answer machine, the workshop models how educators can help students "stay in the question" long enough for deeper understanding, identity formation, and professional judgment to emerge.

Two hours of productive discomfort. You're welcome.