The Case for Systems Thinking in Undergraduate Engineering Education

Abstract

Systems Thinking is currently a popular topic among the general public as well as in colleges and universities. Systems Thinking helps solve complex problems that cannot be solved using conventional means, helps engineers design functional and reliable systems, and helps to understand why the world looks and behaves as it does. However, Systems Thinking is usually not integrated into engineering curricula; instead, it is either taught as a stand-alone, independent program or course, or it is not taught at all. We believe that this is sub-optimal. Just as mathematics, physics, and computer science are integrated into engineering courses as fundamental tools, so should Systems Thinking be. Here we provide several examples demonstrating the application and benefits of Systems Thinking to a variety of engineering disciplines with the objective of convincing university administrators and instructors to integrate it into every engineering discipline.

Towards Understanding the Causal Relationships in Proliferating SD Education—A System Dynamics Group Modelling Approach in China

“…Systems thinking can be used to design new programs or interventions. Monat et al explained the importance of teaching systems thinking to undergraduate engineers and proposed an approach to inculcating ST into engineering curricula [25] Wheat combined ST with macroeconomics [26] and Shi explored and practiced new teaching methods with ST [27]. Furthermore, Minarik used ST to address teacher retention challenges [28] ST can help teachers to understand the whole teaching system and manage or improve their teaching feedback, including but not limited to curriculum design, student learning, teaching practices, funding application, and innovation.…”

Eğitimde Sistem Düşüncesi: Bibliyometrik Bir Analiz

“…Yakın zamanda, çeşitli alanlardaki araştırmacılar SD'yi eğitim bağlamlarında kullanmaya başlamıştır (Clark ve Hoffman, 2019;Monat, Gannon ve Amissah, 2022;York ve Orgill, 2020). Eğitim, ekonomik, kültürel, bilimsel ve siyasi sistemlerin hem ayrılmaz bir parçasıdır hem de bu sistemlerden etkilenir.…”

Fostering Engineering Students’ Competences Development Through Lexical Aspect Acquisition Model

“…In the process of their education, the students of the engineering specialties are to obtain not only the so called hard skills, i.e. professional knowledge, but also soft skills -a number of general skills and knowledge [42,43,44]. In [45] a roadmap to the development of seven key competences skills through seven teaching and learning strategies has been proposed.…”