Asee peer logo

Recentering the User: How an Inclusive Design Class Pushes Students to See Beyond Their Own Experiences

Download Paper |

Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Inclusive Horizons: Shaping Diverse Pathways in Engineering and Design Education

Tagged Divisions

Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47923

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Allison Murray Marquette University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5775-8005

visit author page

Dr. Allison K. Murray is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Marquette University. She holds a BS, MS, and PhD in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. Her research includes inclusive pedagogy and the effects of belonging on student success. She has a active research program in additive manufacturing.

visit author page

biography

Lisa Chase Marquette University

visit author page

Mx. Lisa Chase is the assistant director for engineering education programs at Marquette University. They hold an MA in history and an MA in education, they are obtaining an EdD from Hamline University.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

The purpose of this ECSJ-DEED joint technical session practice paper is to disseminate the successes and challenges of implementing an inclusive design mechanical engineering elective. Grounded in a design thinking framework, the inclusive engineering design course focused on (1) the value of a human-centered design approach, (2) the intersection of social justice and design thinking, and (3) the implications of design choices on historically marginalized groups. Course artifacts, student reflections, and instructional team reflections are used to understand the growth in mindset of the students and instructor through this course. Additionally, these resources are used to present best practices and key learning for future implementation.

This project focused on examining systems. Groups historically excluded from engineering, including people of color, disabled, LGBTQ+, and women, were recentered through the human centered design process. Students evaluated engineering systems for exclusion and ideated on the source of these design flaws. In doing so, they built a framework for inclusion calculation, established best practices for user-informed design, and implemented guardrails to mitigate the risk of future exclusion. Students reported in self-reflections that the methodologies pushed them to decenter their own experiences in the course design project, opening themselves up to problem definitions and innovative solutions they previously lacked the perspective to find.

The pedagogical choices in this course development were grounded in anti-deficit teaching practices. The instructional team attempted to create an environment to develop cultural competencies in students. This was done by bringing discussions of social justice, equity, and inclusion into an engineering course. Student reflections indicate this course content to be unlike others in their curriculum. Instructor reflections observe a growth in students’ language around diversity, equity, and inclusion and their willingness to engage in social justice work. The authors believe this to be a critical gain in student cultural awareness that can translate beyond the course.

Murray, A., & Chase, L. (2024, June), Recentering the User: How an Inclusive Design Class Pushes Students to See Beyond Their Own Experiences Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47923

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015