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.

The project addresses a recognized challenge of current engineering formation: how to prepare future holistic engineers to better handle complex multidisciplinary problems. While systems thinking has been recognized as one of the essential skills for future engineers, measurement of systems thinking capability in this project will provide new insights. The project has three primary tasks: 1) evaluate current engineering students' systems thinking capability, using a previously validated survey instrument, and connect systems thinking capability to the established theoretical frameworks (inductive and deductive reasoning) 2) identify and explore various cognitive, demographic, academic, and intuitional factors that influence systems thinking capability; and 3) evaluate employers' needs to investigate gaps between students' systems thinking capacity and employers' needs. The grounding of systems thinking capability in the theory of inductive and deductive reasoning offers potentially transformative research for understanding the development of systems thinking. The comparison between student capability and employer needs will provide useful insights for engineering educators. In addition to assessing student capability, and comparing it to employer needs, this project identifies the underlying factors that influence systems thinking capability, providing theoretical guidance to the existing systems engineering body of knowledge. The implementation of the project tasks will enhance and foster the current state of engineering education knowledge and project systems thinking skills beyond the classroom. Therefore, engineering students will be better prepared for their future engineering careers and fill the U.S. industry's needs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC)
Type
Standard Grant (Standard)
Application #
1830909
Program Officer
Jumoke Ladeji-Osias
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2018-09-01
Budget End
2021-08-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
$199,961
Indirect Cost
Name
Mississippi State University
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Mississippi State
State
MS
Country
United States
Zip Code
39762