Making space for expansive thinking in sociotechnical undergraduate discussions
Fatima Rahman, Kristen Wendell, Chelsea J. AndrewsAbstract
Background
There are increasing calls for engineers to be more socially responsible when designing engineering solutions. For engineering practice to center justice, future engineers must contend with dominant narratives and epistemologies that privilege depoliticization, neutrality, and technical supremacy.
Purpose
This study explores how a group of five undergraduate women make space for expansive thinking—rethinking the inclusion of different social, political, and economic factors—during a computational modeling task in an introductory engineering computing course. We highlight the epistemological uncertainty experienced by the students during their expansive sociotechnical discussion.
Method
This research is part of a larger project redesigning a first‐year computing course to include more critical consideration of social and political issues. In this qualitative case study, we analyze recordings of an in‐class sociotechnical discussion and stimulated recall interviews with four focal students, focusing on both the in‐class discursive moves and their reported individual experiences.
Results
We identify five space‐making moves that helped students in rethinking what to include in their computational model: (1) highlighting contextual differences, (2) acknowledging tensions, (3) agreeing to try, (4) putting forward some possibilities, and (5) explicit reframing to simultaneously include multiple aspects. These moves were accompanied by epistemological uncertainty, as students wrestled with what counts as valued engineering practice.