Introducing Complex Sociotechnical Systems to First-and Second-Year Students

Retention of undergraduate engineering students remains a key challenge faced across the globe; in particular, the first two years of the required curriculum is often cited as a significant hurdle. Many students are attracted to engineering in order to solve important real-world problems. However, in the first two years, the majority of students find themselves in classes focused on the fundamentals of math and science, with little or no apparent connection to the real-world issues they care deeply about. Furthermore, most students traditionally develop a deep understanding in a specific engineering discipline, with limited opportunity to consider or analyze complex, sociotechnical systems (e.g. energy systems, transportation networks, healthcare) – systems that are the focus of critical engineering challenges. Although the subject of large-scale, sociotechnical systems has been successfully integrated into the realm of graduate education, it has seen limited attention in undergraduate studies where it has the potential to inspire and help retain the next generation of engineers. This paper describes the development and implementation of a novel course, intended for freshmen and sophomores, that has been designed to address some of the needs of a new generation of students who are passionate and more engaged than ever before in understanding and impacting contemporary problems. The new course centers around the theme of Critical Contemporary Issues (CCI) – important and difficult problems pertinent to our present times on topics of sustainability, mobility, energy and the environment, healthcare, communication, the internet etc. In this course, we weave introductory instruction in system dynamics, networks and uncertainty with teams working on different semester-long projects. Through this approach, we enable students to engage in and understand the issues at play in a problem of their interest, appreciate the scope of the sociotechnical complexities in CCIs, and gain an introduction to analytical tools that can help in addressing some of these issues. This paper discusses the overall philosophy and motivation for establishing the course, the design of the curriculum, and the approach, execution, and integration of team-based projects