Research Initiation: Leveraging Systems Thinking to Enhance the Holistic Formation of Engineers

As the world becomes increasingly complex, systems thinking continues to gain recognition as an important and necessary skill for future engineers. Systems thinking does not replace traditional technical skills required of engineers, but instead provides a complementary skill set to help better navigate complex systems and their corresponding problems. Systems thinking is defined as a way of framing how we see, interpret, make sense, and respond to the complex world we encounter on a daily basis. The increasing complexity of U.S. industries demands that universities train engineers with systems thinking skills to solve the range of interconnected problems companies may face. This project aims to understand the ability of engineering students to think at a system level in order to better fit their future engineering careers. The project provides essential insights into the preparation of 21st century engineering students with respect to systems thinking capability. By comparing student capabilities to the needs of employers, the current state of engineering education can be evaluated and modified. Better understanding students' systems thinking capability, as well as factors that may influence their capability, provides engineering educators with new knowledge to better inform preparation of future engineering students. This project helps to answer the need to have a large number of qualified engineers available for U.S. industry that can engage in higher levels of thinking required in complex systems problem domains.

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