Investigating using a "Social Impact Audit" Tool to support students' decision-making in a Materials Science Course

This innovative practice full paper describes the design, implementation, lessons learned, and student feedback from the creation of a new module "The Final Straw" in a required Engineering Materials Science class for third-year engineering students. This module used the example of single-use plastic straws and material alternatives to make informed decisions that consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts. Students were introduced to the Social Impact Audit (SIA) tool, a macro-enabled Excel workbook, developed by Ansys/Granta, that uses data from the United Nations Environment Programme and Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry to evaluate and compare the social impact of a product's lifecycle. Based upon the social impacts revealed through SIA, students were required to make and justify recommendations on changing the material a straw was made from and/or the nations where the material originated, was manufactured, or disposed in. Student learning was assessed using homework and exam problems. Student feedback was obtained through voluntary surveys. Preliminary results indicate that students found the SIA tool easy to use, but would have liked a more sophisticated analysis of the intersection of social and economic considerations. Additionally, despite being required to focus on social impacts, students often attributed more importance to economic and environmental considerations when making material selection decisions.