Designing and measuring the impact of an asynchronous learning block model for socially-engaged design

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Today, engineers are at work devising new technologies aimed at solving problems in every realm of life and in every corner of the world. From healthcare to clean energy, from food security to transportation, from the environment to economic development, the discoveries of engineers improve lives and transform society. However, in the vast majority of cases, engineering students and engineers are developing solutions for problems posed by others without asking their own critical questions regarding the real need and the origin of the problem. Engineering design, which is required of most engineering students, must be taught in a context socially engaging the users and ecosystems that are impacted by the engineered systems being designed. In this project, a new educational approach called the learning block model will be designed, implemented, and investigated. This model supports students' learning in the context of socially engaged design, where designers integrate human, cultural, economic, and environmental factors within the processes of designing technology. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to enable engineers to design technologies with a deep sense of social engagement in addressing societal and environmental needs, while also maximizing the probability of solution adoption.The learning block model combines the convenience and scale of asynchronous online learning with the value of face-to-face hands-on skills training and interactions. Skill development will be facilitated in teaching socially engaged design through the development and refinement of this model. Evidence will be collected to continuously improve the design and successful implementation of the learning block model in ways that scale up can be achieved at across engineering programs. Usability testing and content evaluation, as well as rigorous methods from educational research, will be used to assess the impact of the model on conceptions of and performance of students during socially engaged design. This project will result in improving student learning and skills around projects where stakeholders and context must be integrated in decisions made throughout the design process. The project has the potential to impact engineering design pedagogy and engineering design content.