SHAPE Lab

Socio-technical and Human-centered AI for Pedagogy and Education

Funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation and possible due to community partnerships with the Massachusetts Associate for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Carroll Center for the Blind.
SHAPE Lab

Project Overview

Our project aims to develop and implement an innovative educational program that immerses engineering and computing students in real-world contexts while addressing societal challenges. The program focuses on equipping students with the necessary skills to develop and deploy AI technologies responsibly by integrating social sciences perspectives and fostering a holistic understanding of AI's potential benefits and harms.

Project Timeline

Building EchoMinds

Summer 2025
  • Immersed ourselves into activities at the Carroll Center for the Blind and the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI) to learn about the BVI community.
  • Collaborated to identify an idea for AI-driven tech that would be meaningful to the BVI community
  • Prototyped, developed, and tested the idea with the community

Machine Learning @ Olin

Spring 2026
  • Case study was implemented into ML course as a continuous case study on HCD in ML.
  • Students were interviewed to gather feedback on the implementation and absorbtion of sociotechnical materials.

Expanding our Reach

Summer 2026
  • Built curricula for Faculty Fellows at UCSD, UNC Charlotte, and Hunter College.
  • Analyzed impacts on student learning in Paul Ruvolo's spring 2026 Machine Learning class