Engineering Students\u27 Ways of Relating to Wicked Sustainability Problems

This licentiate thesis constitutes a part of a larger research effort that aims to provide a theoretical framework for understanding and working with engineering students’ ways of relating to wicked sustainability problems (WSPs) on the basis of conceptual, empirical, and practical considerations. Thus, the project aims to contribute to an understanding of how engineering education can support students in developing the capabilities that they need to actively participate in discussions about sustainable development and to constructively deal with WSPs.The concept of perspectives provides a point of departure for the research. Paper I introduces a conceptual framework for conceiving of and communicating about perspectives and perspective processes in the context of engineering education for sustainable development. In Paper II, four qualitatively different ways in which engineering students understand and approach a specific WSP are described based on an empirical study. The results from the study suggest that a partial experience of the complexity of WSPs may lower rather than increase students’ abilities to deal with WSPs, and that educators therefore should pay attention to support the students in progressing beyond this level. A combination of the results from the two papers provides input for discussions about what it may mean to fully appreciate the complexity of WSPs, and a basis for more practice-oriented research in line with the aim of this research

Wicked Problems in Engineering Education: Preparing Future Engineers to Work for Sustainability

Most engineering education today does not adequately prepare students to contribute to sustainability. For example, engineering students often do not learn how to address complex and ill-structured sustainability problems that involve different stakeholders, value conflicts, and uncertainty; such problems are also called wicked problems. Efforts to improve engineering education in this regard are hampered by a lack of research on how engineering education can prepare students to address wicked problems.This thesis aims to address this gap in two parts. The research described in Part 1 aimed to explore what engineering students need to learn to be able to address wicked problems. For this purpose, a pre-study literature review and two empirical studies were conducted. For the empirical studies, engineering students were interviewed and the interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis (Study\ua01) and a phenomenographic approach (Study 2). The research in Part 2 aimed to link the theoretical results from Part 1 to engineering education practice by focusing on teaching and assessment. The research in Part 2 comprises two empirical studies in which pragmatic action research (Study 3) and design-based research (Study 4) was used.The results of the research include (a) a description of engineering education-specific challenges in addressing wicked problems; (b) 3 descriptions of wicked problems and design principles for wicked problem descriptions; (c) description of four different approaches that engineering students have used in addressing a wicked problem; (d) 22 intended learning outcomes, 3 assessment approaches, an analytic assessment rubric, and a rubric-based intervention for students’ ability to integratively address wicked problems; (e) validity, reliability, and utility evaluations of the assessment rubric; and (f) insights about students’ performance, their approaches to wicked problems, and affordances for learning in differently scaffolded activities during the rubric-based intervention.Conclusions from the research include that an integrative approach to wicked problems is most appropriate, that students are able to use such an approach, but that they may need instructional support to do so. Conclusions further include that strong cognitive scaffolding with a highly detailed assessment rubric can support students’ understanding of the nature of wicked problems and students’ performance in written responses to wicked problems, but possibly also limit affordances for deep and transferable learning

Systems Thinking for Dealing with Wicked Sustainability Problems: Beyond Functionalist Approaches

Many of the most pressing sustainability issues are not purely technical problems. To work for sustainable development (SD) requires addressing wicked sustainability problems (WSPs), such as climate change, poverty, and resource scarcity. Previous research has shown that addressing WSPs is challenging for engineering students. In particular, students may feel overwhelmed by a WSP if they lack appropriate tools for dealing with the complexity, uncertainty, and value conflicts that are present in the situation. In this paper, we aim to investigate whether systems thinking competence (ST) can provide such a tool in engineering education for sustainable development (EESD). For this purpose, we elaborate on previous descriptions of WSPs, and draw on (E)ESD literature about ST to discuss different approaches to ST and their usefulness for addressing WSPs. We conclude that ST indeed can be valuable for addressing WSPs, but that it is necessary to be clear about how ST is defined. We suggest that mainstream approaches to ST in engineering education (EngE) are not sufficient for addressing WSPs

Navigating the maze of teaching and learning for sustainable development in engineering education – “Perspective shift” in relation to other key competences

Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (EESD) is challenging for both educators and students, partly due to the inherent complexity of the subject and the competences required to work for a sustainable development. Many EESD competences are today ill-defined and their mutual relationships and hierarchies are often unclear. As educators try to develop adequate learning sequences, and teaching and learning strategies, they wonder where to start, where to aim, and which route to take.The aim of this paper is to shed light on a specific part of the maze which EESD competences compose. We report on research which aims at creating a conceptual model of one key competence in EESD, the ability to shift perspectives. Based on the findings from two different studies, we discuss how this ability interacts, overlaps, or competes with other EESD competences. It is our hope that this work will serve as a basis for future research into the character of, and interrelatedness of, EESD competences. Our long-term ambition is to create a comprehensive “map” which can guide educators and students in the field of engineering through the maze of teaching and learning for a sustainable future

Systems thinking for dealing with wicked sustainability problems: beyond functionalist approaches

Many of the most pressing sustainability issues are not purely technical problems. To work for sustainable development (SD) requires addressing wicked sustainability problems (WSPs), such as climate change, poverty, and resource scarcity. Previous research has shown that addressing WSPs is challenging for engineering students. In particular, students may feel overwhelmed by a WSP if they lack appropriate tools for dealing with the complexity, uncertainty, and value conflicts that are present in the situation. In this paper, we aim to investigate whether systems thinking competence (ST) can provide such a tool in engineering education for sustainable development (EESD). For this purpose, we elaborate on previous descriptions of WSPs, and draw on (E)ESD literature about ST to discuss different approaches to ST and their usefulness for addressing WSPs. We conclude that ST indeed can be valuable for addressing WSPs, but that it is necessary to be clear about how ST is defined. We suggest that mainstream approaches to ST in engineering education (EngE) are not sufficient for addressing WSP

Wicked problems and assessment in engineering education: Developing and evaluating an analytic rubric

Previous research indicates that engineering education does not adequately prepare students to address complex, ill-structured, real-world problems, such as wicked problems (WPs), and that one reason for this may be a lack of robust assessment instruments. In recent years, assessment rubrics have been developed and evaluated for a variety of learning outcomes, but no rigorously tested rubric has yet been developed for assessing engineering students’ ability to integratively address WPs. The aim of this paper is to fill thisgap by introducing an analytic rubric for assessing engineering students’ written responses to WPs and evaluating its reliability, validity, and utility. The results suggest that the rubric can support reliable and valid assessment if raters are carefully trained. The utility of the rubric for formative assessment and teacher professional development was most prominent