Work-in-progress: Sociotechnical modules for the Introduction to Circuits Course

In this work-in-progress, we outline a new National Science Foundation-funded project to help engineering instructors integrate sociotechnical issues into their circuits' classrooms. Inspiring electrical engineering (EE) instructors to implement our sociotechnical modules has the potential to achieve far-reaching influence on the field. The modules address the need for sociotechnical curricula in the middle years, when students are forming their engineering identities, and can be used to help students achieve key ABET outcomes related to ethical, global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic considerations that are often challenging for faculty to address. Working with a team of EE graduate students and applying proven principles of backward course design, we aim to develop and test several sociotechnical modules for the Introduction to Circuits course. Each module will be linked to technical topics addressed in the course and emphasize a different sociotechnical issue such as conflict minerals used for electronics components or recycling electric vehicle batteries. We will assess the effectiveness of the modules at reinforcing the technical content of the course and at promoting students' sense of social responsibility and we will prepare detailed teaching guides that will allow instructors to easily use the modules in their own contexts.