Prof. Kevin S. Jones
Materials Science and Engineering UF
&
Dr. Sophia Krzys Acord
Sociology and Humanities UF
What is the Impact of Materials on
Society (IMOS) Class?
• IMOS is a freshman level class that explores the
interactions between Materials discoveries (metals,
polymers, etc.) and Society
• The class demonstrates that society is dependent
upon materials innovations and those innovations are
influenced by society.
• The class improves social literacy of engineers and
technical literacy of non-engineers
• The class is a good recruiting tool for converting
undecided engineering majors to MSE.
IMOS Goals
1. Help engineering students to
“understand the impact of engineering
solutions in a global economic,
environmental and societal context”
2. Expose students in any major to the
role and significance of engineering
3. Give students in any major basic
materials science literacy
The Impact Paradigm
Material
•
What is the material of importance?
•
What are the general properties of this material?
•
What is the general abundance of the material?
Historical
•
What is the first known use of the material?
•
At what time did the material become enabling?
•
What factors led to its adoption
Technological
•
What technology did the material enable?
•
What property of the material enables the technology?
•
How sustainable is the material?
Societal
•
In which realms of society did the materials development have an impact?
•
What were the financial implications of the development?
•
What were the health implications of the development?
•
What were the political implications of the development (war)?
•
What were the social implication of the development?
History
• The class was developed at UF in 2011 and has
been taught 4 times to freshmen and
sophomores
• The class size has grown from 15 to over 130
(this fall it will be capped at 175)
• The class has been formally evaluated for NSF
and the evaluations have been incredibly
positive
• The class is currently offered as an elective
although it could become a gen ed required
course.
Fall 2013 Survey Results
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90.1% felt the course would make them a more
effective engineer.
92.6% felt that the course made them a more aware
decision-maker as a consumer or voter.
70.4% reported that the course had changed their
impression of what an engineer did.
92.6% would recommend the course to engineers.
72.8% would recommend the course to nonengineers.
65.4% were more likely to major in engineering as a
result of taking the course.
Class Description
•
•
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There is one instructor of record in engineering (me) and a team
of faculty in liberal arts
Each week is a different Material and a different Social Principle
Class structure
– Monday: Engineering lecture on the specific material
• E.g. Iron and steel
– Wednesday: History lecture on material case study
• E.g. Andrew Carnegie and Creative Destruction
– Thursday: Watch MRS video on new material
• E.g. Magnesium (Mg) alloys that are replacing steel
– Friday: Flip the classroom and work in groups
• E.g. Create a future product with magnesium and discuss its
anticipated creative destruction
IMOS Fall 2014
Each week is a new material and a new social principle!
Week 2 Clay- Team with Prof. Susan Gillespie (Anthropology)
(rare earths and entanglement)
Week 3 Glass - Team with Prof. Ken Sassaman (Anthropology)
(biodegradable materials and operational chains)
Week 4 Concrete - Team with Prof. Mary Ann Eaverly (Classics)
(smart building materials and social functions)
Week 5 Make concrete bars - Review Impact Paradigm
Week 6 Copper and Bronze – Team with Prof. Florin Curta
(History) (solar cells and Trade)
Week 7 Iron - Team with Prof. Sean Adams (History) (steel,
magnesium alloy, and creative destruction)
IMOS Fall 2014
Week 9 Aluminum - Team with Prof. Sean Adams (History)
(lightweight materials and materials economics)
Week 10 Writing Materials - Team with Prof. Bonnie Effros
(History)(magnetic storage and knowledge dissemination)
Week 11 Gold and Silver - Team with Prof. Florin Curta (History)
(gold nanoparticles and the creation of value)
Week 12 Plastics - Team with Prof. Marsha Bryant (English) (New
sources and applications for polymers, marketing materials)
Week 13 Semiconductors - Team with Dr. Sophia Acord (Sociology)
(silicon and human-material relationships)
Week 14 Research Project
Week 15 Final Poster Presentations
Clay and Entanglement
(Susan Gillespie, anthropology)
Concrete and Symbolic Value
(Mary Ann Eaverly, classics)
Steel and Creative Destruction
(Sean Adams, history)
Impact Testing Concrete
Final Posters
Quotes from IMOS Students
Engineers play an integral part in every aspect of our
daily lives, from infrastructure to dinner plates.
I was amazed by the extent materials shaped our
modern technological revolution. Their importance
in society has made think about the types of
materials we need to address the engineering
challenges of the future.
Learning about materials in their social context was
very interesting for me and has helped me decide to
major in materials engineering.
Quotes 1-2 years later
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Und=> MSE: YES I LOVED THE CLASS! It was a major factor in determining
my major, which is now MSE
Biomed => MSE: The class helped me land my first internship offer, it was
my favorite class at UF
MSE Major: I feel that I reaped the most benefit from the historical
implications and technological insights to research and development of
new materials
Mechanical Major: Best class at UF
Computer Major: This was my favorite class
History Major: I feel like it gave me an advantage in my future history
classes
Environmental Major: Great class, I recommend it to all my friends
MSE Major: I feel that EMA1004 covers very important and some seldom
considered information that should indeed be shared with other
institutions
Overview of Status
MRS Public Outreach Committee helped make the current
videos
Text book has the Sass Substance of Civilization
Class has been taught several times at UF with great success
Next Steps:
• UF Faculty producing a new Open Textbook (Orange
Grove Press) Completion date set for spring 2016
• Large DoD grant to produce new professional videos for
the course. UF & MRS writing Scripts, Bruno White
Productions filming and post production. Completion
date spring 2016
• Starting to look for sites for dissemination
Dissemination Process
• We have already held one NSF funded
workshop (fall 2014 MRS meeting) to start
dissemination of the class.
– 7 Universities and community college participated
including:
• PSU, VCU, UNM, UVI, CCSF etc.
• The materials for the class are currently on-line
in a drop box folder which we are happy to
share with you.
–
This includes all the lecture notes and videos of the lectures, MRS
videos for Thursday, class-room exercise for Friday and exams
Teaching this at your Institution
•
Two Options:
1) Teach the class using a MSE Prof. and the materials
provided
1. We are happy to provide the materials and advice when
needed
2) Team teach the class with MSE and Liberal Arts faculty
1. Critical to nucleate the right team at your university
2. Must find a sociology/ humanities faculty member to pair
with MSE. We can help with that process.
3. Hold an IMOS workshop at your school. We can help
depending on how our grant writing goes to support
travel.
Versatile Structure
“Plug and Play” Course Design
Materials
Overview
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•
HSS Case
Study
IMOS
Video
Flipped
Classroom
Activity
Course is modular and thus adaptable to each
universities strengths
Text is open source so new chapters can be added
by others
If your department is interested in offering this class
please contact me
Kevin Jones at kjones@eng.ufl.edu (352)-846-3301
We will be happy to share the collected information
with you as well as consider hosting a workshop at
your school if we can get funding from DOD for
travel next year.
FALL 2 014
IMPACT OF MATERIALS ON SOCIETY
Interdisciplinary Humanities & Engineering Course
EMA 1004/ANT 3930/HIS3931/IDS4930/CLT 3930 - MWF 3rd period Weil Hall 270
* No prerequisites required. Suitable for students pursuing any major
How h ave pa s t m a t er ia l dis cov er ies ch a n ged t h e wor ld w e live in ?
How do n ew m a t er ia ls in n ov a t ion s ef fect ev er y da y life?
How do s ocia l a n d cu lt u r a l for ces s h a pe en gin eer in g?
Wh a t fu t u r e m a t er ia ls in n ov a t ion s will r ev olu t ion ize y ou r wor ld?
We look at how materials -- such as ceramics, concrete, precious metals, glass, steel, plastics and
semiconductors -- contributed to the development of technologies and social structures worldwide. We
investigate cutting-edge materials and discuss their future impact on medicine, transportation, clean
energy, sports, and more. We learn how cultural variables like gender, race, power/authority, religious
beliefs, and politics shape the development of materials. From ancient cities and Roman baths, steel
foundries and Tupperware parties, to virtual communities and nanomedicine, we examine case studies
from the past to learn key lessons t o imagine the future social impacts of new materials.
Th is elect iv e cou r s e is for :
Everyone – who wants to understand how our world is shaped by materials-based t echnologies.
Future engineers - who want to understand how society could impact their innovations.
In s t r u ct or s :
Prof. Kevin Jones (Materials Science and Engineering): kjones@eng.u .edu
With many other facult y experts from sociology, history, classics, English, and archaeology
Undergraduate enrollment at UF 2014
We were seeing a
trend toward
decreased
enrollment in MSE
Effect of IMOS Class
After introduction of
IMOS Class the
enrollment made a
major jump
Students consistently
said the IMOS class
had a huge impact on
their decision to
switch into MSE