Storytelling as a Key Enabler for Systems Engineering

Devaney, Kevin; Johnson, James M.

doi:10.1002/j.2334-5837.2017.00401.x

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Another tool in a subjective toolbox is storytelling (Devaney & Johnson, 2017). Storytelling has been an important means of communication since ancient times.…”

Section: Storytellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Subjective Toolbox for Sociotechnical Systems

Devaney

2019

INCOSE International Symp

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One of the recent developments in systems engineering has been the expansion of its focus to include sociotechnical systems. As systems become larger and more complex, the interactions between humans and systems become more important, as do the interactions between systems and the environment. There have been calls for systems engineering to adapt to these changes. New disciplines and new frameworks have been proposed in response. In this paper, it is argued that these new disciplines and frameworks will have a limited impact because they have a limited viewpoint: they only make use of objective perspectives. It is proposed that an Integral approach, based on Ken Wilber's Integral Theory, which makes use of both subjective and objective perspectives, can have a greater impact on the discipline of systems engineering in the development of sociotechnical systems. This proposal includes the introduction of a subjective toolbox, which enables more effective use of subjective perspectives, and results in a more human‐centric approach to systems engineering.

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“…Another tool in a subjective toolbox is storytelling (Devaney & Johnson, 2017). Storytelling has been an important means of communication since ancient times.…”

Section: Storytellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Subjective Toolbox for Sociotechnical Systems

Devaney

2019

INCOSE International Symp

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“…The concept of storytelling has recently reemerged as an important part of engineering design education, as it forms critical component of how to best link with the client of the design. [13][14][15][16][17] In a 2007 ASEE Conference paper, Adams et al 18 go further to say that story telling is vital "in engineering education to make explicit knowledge that can advance engineering education as a profession." They also state that "Story telling provides a vehicle for scholarly discourse that makes explicit our implicit knowledge, promotes reflective practice, and provides entry points into a community of practice."…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a great review article about the use of storytelling in engineering design, Devaney and Johnson 13 add a crucial caveat at the end. Without a core of fundamental knowledge and practice a story by itself might fall short or become flat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short Story Writing Requirement for Enhanced Biomedical Engineering Education and for Engineering Ethics Competitions — Ethical Twists and Cost Assessment Required

Robinson

2019 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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This paper builds on an important didactic element of course described at the 2011 ASEE conference. 1 This present paper expands on its emphasis on story writing and reflection, but with an added ethics twist. A great short story requires superb character development, an excellent plot often with a seminal event and with twists, ethical dilemmas and an outcome. For our biomedical and rehabilitation engineering (BmRE) course, we also require a triage component, diagnosis, treatment and a cost-of-care analysis. The fact that the students themselves developed the story line internalized the ethical concepts, hopefully transferable to a real-world situation. Ethical DidacticsFor over a decade, the ~50 students/ semester (90% engineers, 10% from business and the life sciences = ~1200 students in total) were given lectures on human research requirements and misuse and required to complete the CitiProgram on-line human research course. In other lectures, they were introduced to ethical models, 5 the sensory-motor nervous system and spinal cord injury (SCI) pathology, and assistive technology for a variety of sensory-motor deficits.As described in our previous ASEE conference paper, 1 students were required to buy a bound lab notebook, take class notes in it, and also include weekly homework assignments and literature review analysis. The notebook was graded as a substantial part of the final grade. Slides from some lectures were provided and students were encouraged to put those in their notebook. The key for notebook use was that all tests were open notebook (only), but difficult. These tests were not a complete measure of retention, as they had notes to rely on, but the difficulty factor helped those with better retention. While not germane to this present paper, this 3-hour biomedical engineering survey course also provided introductions to cardiology, medical imaging, biometrics, prosthetics and orthotics, bio-informatics, biosignals and telehealth.These assignments addressed the ethical issues raised in the course and are described later.Did you complete the CitiProgram on-line human research course? Did you attend the lecture on medical ethics allocation models? What are the benefits of Speech Generating Devices for individuals with cerebral palsy? How was assistive technology used to help an individual with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis? Should artificial limbs be provided to all veterans? Should all children who are deaf get a cochlear implant? Should all women at age 40 get mammograms (or wait until 50)? Write a good short story with ethical twists about 3 individuals who sustain spinal cord injuries.

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Toward a theory on programmer’s block inspired by writer’s block

Schantong,

Siegmund,

Siegmund

2024

Empir Software Eng

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Context Programmer’s block, akin to writer’s block, is a phenomenon where capable programmers struggle to create code. Despite anecdotal evidence, no scientific studies have explored the relationship between programmer’s block and writer’s block. Objective The primary objective of this study is to study the presence of blocks during programming and their potential causes. Method We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced programmers to capture their processes, the problems they face, and potential causes. Subsequently, we analyzed the responses through the lens of writing. Results We found that among the programmer’s problems during programming, several display strong similarities to writer’s block. Moreover, when investigating possible causes of such blocks, we found a strong relationship between programming and writing activities as well as typical writing strategies employed by programmers. Conclusions Strong similarities between programming and writing challenges, processes, and strategies confirm the existence of programmer’s block with similar causes to writer’s block. Thus, strategies from writing used to resolve blocks should be applicable in programming, helping developers to overcome phases of being stuck. Research at the intersection of both areas could lead to productivity gains through reduced developer downtimes.

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Storytelling as a Key Enabler for Systems Engineering

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

A Subjective Toolbox for Sociotechnical Systems

A Subjective Toolbox for Sociotechnical Systems

Short Story Writing Requirement for Enhanced Biomedical Engineering Education and for Engineering Ethics Competitions — Ethical Twists and Cost Assessment Required

Toward a theory on programmer’s block inspired by writer’s block

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