This project transformed a traditionally technical curriculum (within Tufts University's Introduction to Computing in Engineering course for first-year engineering students) into one that integrates critical discussions of social justice, bias in data and data science, and the societal impacts of technology. Over four years, we developed, implemented, and researched the impact of sociotechnical activities designed to help students understand how engineering decisions affect communities and the social impacts of those decisions through a justice-based lens.

The project introduced three major innovations that fundamentally transformed the course structure and pedagogy. First, we developed a comprehensive sociotechnical curriculum consisting of 5 major projects and 12 single-day in-class activities that examine topics ranging from algorithmic influences and environmental impacts to medical device inequities. These activities evolved from simple readings to immersive 75-minute lab sessions with associated reflections, ensuring deep engagement with complex issues. Second, we created an Equity Learning Assistant (ELA) program that employed 54 undergraduate students across 20 course sections over the four years of the project. ELAs facilitated discussions, provided feedback on reflections, and served as near-peer mentors for navigating sociotechnical topics, creating a supportive learning environment that validated student perspectives. Third, through design-based research that involved collecting and analyzing student work, surveys, interviews, and classroom recordings, we continuously improved curriculum and teaching methods based on findings. This iterative approach ensured that our innovations remained responsive to student needs and learning outcomes.

Our research revealed shifts in student understanding across multiple dimensions. Students developed enhanced critical thinking abilities, becoming more adept at recognizing and evaluating the social, political, and ethical dimensions of engineering problems. They moved beyond viewing social issues as separate from technical work to understanding them as fundamentally intertwined, recognizing how design choices embed values and affect communities. Additionally, students learned to engage productively with the complexity and uncertainty inherent in sociotechnical problems, appreciating that engineering solutions involve value judgments that extend beyond technical optimization. Through structured discussions and reflective writing assignments, they also improved their argumentation skills, learning to justify engineering decisions both technically and ethically while articulating their own values in the process. This holistic development prepared students to approach engineering challenges with both technical competence and social awareness.

The project's impacts extended beyond individual learning. Through group work, carefully selected case studies, and incorporating personal connections throughout the curriculum, students from all backgrounds reported that sociotechnical topics made engineering feel more relevant to their lived experiences and career goals. The success of the content changes and the ELA model convinced the Tufts School of Engineering to both solidify the content into the course description and commit continued funding for the initiative beyond the grant period, indicating sustainable institutional transformation. Throughout the duration of the project, as the course expanded from 4 to 7 sections and served 829 students in total, we developed processes for coordinating sociotechnical content across multiple instructors, creating a replicable model (and publicly available resources) for other instructors and institutions.

Our research also identified important challenges, requiring ongoing attention into the future. We discovered that classroom dynamics could pose difficulties when some international students felt disconnected from the U.S.-centric discussions of sociotechnical topics, prompting us to develop more globally-focused case studies and broaden our range of assignments, subsequently providing benefits to all. Another challenge emerged as students sometimes defaulted to purely technical fixes when confronting sociotechnical problems, seeking numerical or coding solutions without fully addressing underlying social dynamics in play, highlighting the need for additional scaffolding to help students integrate multi-dimentional thinking into their technical work. Furthermore, assessment methods remained a significant hurdle as grading continued to focus primarily on technical content, with sociotechnical engagement often reduced to simple participation checkmarks. This disconnect between larger pedagogical goals and evaluation practices necessitated the development of more nuanced, scalable methods for assessing sociotechnical thinking while simultaneously providing meaningful feedback to support student growth in this complex area.

Overall, this project demonstrates that integrating social justice into technical education is not only possible but essential for preparing engineers to address global 21st-century challenges. By helping students see engineering as inherently sociotechnical, we're cultivating more capable and thoughtful professionals. The transformation of this introduction to engineering course illustrates how targeted educational interventions can shift engineering culture toward greater social responsibility. As engineering increasingly shapes society, this work ensures future engineers understand their role in creating more equitable and impactful technological futures. Through careful integration of technical skills with critical social analysis, supported by innovative pedagogical structures like the ELA program, we've created a scalable model for engineering education that develops both technical excellence and social consciousness. This approach of improving students’ sociotechnical literacy in engineering prepares students to appropriately pick and design the most impactful solutions to solving problems.

Last Modified: 08/31/2025
Modified by: Ethan E Danahy