02/08/2023
By John Mack
The Department of Mechanical Engineering invites you to attend a seminar on Friday 2/10/23 from 1-2PM in Dandeneau Hall 220.
"Making the First Year Engineering Experience Personalized, Relevant, and Engaging: Introducing Sociotechnical Content to the Intro Sequence" by Ethan Danahy (Tufts University) & Chelsea Andrews (Tufts University)
First-Year Engineering, and intro engineering sequences in general, have always strived to quickly and efficiently get students technically prepared for the road ahead. More recent trends have included project-based learning and additionally focusing on interpersonal skills (communication, collaboration, etc.) in efforts to both retain students through the early years and develop “well rounded” students. But often this is all done within a purely scientific context, and if addressing real-world examples, only using the math, science, and engineering design process to solve the technical challenges. We believe, starting from the very first courses, students should simultaneously be considering the sociotechnical aspects of engineering, and working through a lens of justice and equity, when considering the impacts and justifications of their engineering decisions.
This talk, presented by Ethan Danahy (the Coordinator of First Year Courses within the School of Engineering) and Chelsea Andrews (a research assistant professor in engineering education within the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach), will describe both the format and structure of the Tufts intro-to-engineering sequence as well as highlight ongoing work specifically targeting the inclusion of sociotechnical thinking within engineering classes. Presented will be the details of some recent course redesigns and how the Tufts School of Engineering handled the balance of instructor agency with supporting students and teaching staff while simultaneously changing (and challenging!) the existing culture around and expectations of the content typically found within the first-year curriculum.
Ethan Danahy is a Research Associate Professor at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) with secondary appointment in the Department of Computer Science within the School of Engineering at Tufts University, outside of Boston MA. Having received his graduate degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, he continues research in the design, implementation, and evaluation of different educational technologies, ranging from software and hardware to different interfaces and environments. Prof. Danahy’s interest in improving interactive educational pedagogies extends beyond research to impacting his own teaching and Coordination of First Year Courses for the Tufts School of Engineering.
Chelsea Andrews is a Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO). She designs and studies lessons and instructional supports to deepen and sustain elementary to undergraduate students’ mechanistic, sociotechnical, and design process reasoning. Her current NSF-funded research projects focus on (1) elementary student reasoning in intentionally facilitated sociotechnical design conversations and (2) the evolution of undergraduate students’ sociotechnical literacy in a first-year computing course. She has a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Tufts, M.S. in Civil Engineering from MIT, and BS in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University. She has taught courses for undergraduate engineering students, undergraduate and graduate education students, and courses for in-service K-12 educators.