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Infranomics pp 195–211Cite as

Complex Socio-Technical Problems for Engineers: Pedagogical Motivation and Experience at the Undergraduate Level

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Part of the book series: Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality ((TSRQ,volume 24))

Abstract

Engineering courses, focused on complex, sociotechnical systems, at the undergraduate level, have been rare. Traditionally, most students develop technical understanding in a specific engineering discipline, but get little opportunity to analyze engineered complex systems, where both technical and social issues need to be well understood for devising long lasting solutions. In this chapter, authors describe the motivation, design, and learning outcomes of an introductory course on Engineering Systems that has been developed and offered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The course is based on the theme of critical contemporary issues (CCIs) including energy, mobility, sustainability etc. The aim of the course is to expose undergraduates to quantitative tools for methodically analyzing complex contemporary engineering challenges. The course consists of lectures on system dynamics, networks and uncertainty, along with semester-long team-based projects. For the first pilot offering of the class (Spring semester 2011), the students gave an average rating of 5.9/7.0 regarding how likely they were to recommend this class to others (7 being absolutely certain). There was also evidence (however, based on limited and anecdotal data) of continued student interest (outside of class) in engaging with the complex socio-technical problems they worked on during the term.

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References

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge support from the d’Arbeloff fund in providing financial support for developing and offering ESD.00. The projects for this class were designed and supervised by Dr. Stan Finkelstein, Regina Clewlow, Jesse Sowell, Abby Horn, Fernando De Sisternes, Daniel Livengood, Lara Pierpoint and Judith Maro. Their participation made this course possible over the two years it has been offered. We thank Stephen Carson of MIT Open Course Ware (OCW) who helped in obtaining data of course numbers and types. We are also greatly appreciative of the support and encouragement from Professor Daniel Frey (Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Systems), Professor Yossi Sheffi (Director of ESD 2007–2011), Professor Olivier de Weck (Associate Director of ESD 2007–2011), and Professor Daniel Hastings (Dean of Undergraduate Education at MIT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Scientist, Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Afreen Siddiqi

  2. Lecturer and Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, MC 3-68, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

    Regina R. Clewlow

  3. JR East Professor of Engineering Systems and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Joseph M. Sussman

Authors
  1. Afreen Siddiqi
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  2. Regina R. Clewlow
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  3. Joseph M. Sussman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Afreen Siddiqi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Mngmt & Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

    Adrian V. Gheorghe

  2. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, Joint Research Center, Petten, The Netherlands

    Marcelo Masera

  3. Engineering Management and Systems Eng., Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

    Polinpapilinho F. Katina

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Siddiqi, A., Clewlow, R.R., Sussman, J.M. (2014). Complex Socio-Technical Problems for Engineers: Pedagogical Motivation and Experience at the Undergraduate Level. In: Gheorghe, A., Masera, M., Katina, P. (eds) Infranomics. Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02493-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02493-6_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02492-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02493-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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