Learning systemic management practice

Systems thinking has been proposed as an answer to the question of how management practitioners can best equip themselves to tackle the complexity of management practice. As a body of work intended to transcend disciplinary silos, systems thinking pursues the ideal of generating comprehensive descriptions of real situations. It seeks to do this by embracing a variety of systems approaches and ideas to explain patterns and hypothesise causes of observable empirical events. As systems thinking is a diverse field, there are many knowledge areas and perspectives available to programme designers to facilitate teaching and the learning of systems thinking for management practice. The purpose of this study is to examine students' experience of learning events in the context of an interdisciplinary course designed for the development of management practice through systems thinking. Data was collected from three cohorts of students by observing lectures and class-based group work; and conducting interviews using conversational repertory grid techniques. The interview responses were analysed using grounded theory principles. Based on the findings derived from this qualitative analysis, the process of learning of systems thinking is outlined as a practice involving the selection and interpretation of events which evolve from the starting out phase, where students become interested in learning, and then outlines progress through the phases of assimilation and, changes in knowledge, culminating in more complex learning phases described as integration and adaptation. The synthesis of these phenomena as a theory provided an answer to the primary research objective of investigating how students experience learning events designed to develop systemic management practice. Critical realism, following Bhaskar's philosophy, is used to frame explanations to extend the grounded theory analysis, seeking to account for generative mechanisms that enable and constrain student experience with respect to systems thinking development. As a secondary contribution, this informed the identification of possible mechanisms and emergent properties at the level of the course through an analytical separation of the academic and work environments. These included the discourse of the context of application, academic discourse and professional identity. In combination, these findings make a contribution to understanding the learning of systemic management practice. In addition, applications for this research are suggested for educators, managers and organisations. These applications include: 1) a framework to help educators design meaningful experiences for learners; 2) a basis for understanding what constitutes systemic management practice and explaining differential development; 3) establishment of a basis for understanding what is needed for organisations to support the development of systemic management practice

Mindfulness for enhancing learning in engineering education

Technology is evolving at a rapid rate, thereby introducing more complex problems that engineers must be able to engage with. Increasingly complex problems require new ways of thinking, and more innovative, creative, and collaborative responses. To lead this technological evolution, engineers are challenged to engage with lifelong learning and ongoing problem solving. The learning and creative thinking skills needed for innovation relies on an open and receptive mindset – a key component of mindfulness. Mindfulness has previously been shown to enhance creativity, focus, mental clarity, and divergent thinking skills required for problem solving. Furthermore, mindfulness has been shown improve interpersonal relationships and communication – paramount to effective collaboration when working on solutions to complex problems as a team. In this paper, the perceptions of mindfulness and its effects on engineering professionals in the workplace are explored. Data were collected using structured interviews with a purposive sample of practicing South African engineers, and a survey sent out to a larger sample. Data were analysed using content analysis for the interviews and statistical regression analysis for the survey. It was found that engineers believed that consistent learning was a vital aspect of job performance. Findings revealed that mindfulness was correlated to lower stress, fatigue, and turnover intention, while improving productivity, innovation, emotional intelligence, and communication. Results indicate that through cultivating mindfulness, engineering professionals will be more equipped to continuously learn, create, and innovate in a productive manner. The study proposes that mindfulness is introduced at undergraduate level in engineering education as a key skill in preparing graduates for the workplace

Engineers’ perceptions of their role in society: the South African case

Being sparked by interactions with students in the context of a course called ‘Engineer in Society’, this work-in-progress study explores how engineers conceived of their role during the period of apartheid in South Africa. The literature suggests that engineers consider their contribution to society in solely technical terms rather than in social or political terms. Using interviews with engineering academics, this paper examines how respondents’ navigated engineering practice and academic work. The findings indicate significant complexity in terms of how engineers conceived of their role in relation to society, a relationship that was mediated by politicised academic institutions and differentiated cultural norms. This also has an impact on the notion of the culpability of engineers and the question of whether they resisted or complied with the pervasive and brutal regime of apartheid. Although the study revealed a variety of positions and dispositions taken on by engineers, an interesting stance was that of ‘technical activism’ which involved engineers resisting apartheid by exploiting the liberal spaces that were made available in the context of their engineering work

Students’understanding of double integrals - implications for the engineering curriculum

Mathematics plays a significant role in engineering students' education. To undergraduate engineering students, calculus concepts are foundational to their engineering courses. One such concept is the double integral. It is thus important to ensure that students not only learn this concept but also engage to understand it and are able to apply this knowledge in relevant engineering courses. This research paper focuses on the following two components: Firstly, the relevance of double integrals to the engineering curriculum. And secondly, students’ understanding of the double integral concept. We present the relevance of double integrals in the engineering curriculum by looking at the use of this concept in different engineering fields. We explored students’ understanding of double integrals and administered a test to 35 second year engineering students enrolled in an undergraduate Calculus III course. In a qualitative study, the performance of students was used to analyse the type of misconceptions they have in double integration. The findings reveal that the students encounter difficulties with graphical representation of surfaces and region of integration. In addition, students struggle with changing the order of integration and performing the integration process. While some of these errors are conceptual, others are really due to carelessness in the procedure

An analysis of engineering educators’ understanding of complementary studies courses using the repertory grid technique

Accreditation bodies such as the Engineering Council of South Africa and the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board have a group of courses that fall under the umbrella of Complementary Studies. This term is used to describe a set of engineering courses that include knowledge areas other than the more common mathematical sciences, natural sciences, engineering sciences, design and synthesis, and workintegrated learning. Studies have shown that engineering educators sometimes view these courses negatively. They are seen as distracting the focus of the students on the so-called technical courses, which the educators feel are more important. This paper reports on a research study that explored the way that engineering educators make sense of complementary studies courses within an industrial engineering curriculum. The repertory grid technique was used to explore complementary studies courses when compared to other engineering courses within the same curriculum. The relationships between elements and constructs in the grids were analysed using the repertory grid techniques of principal component analysis and cluster analysis. What became clear was that while most of the educators interviewed did recognise complementary studies courses as different to courses considered as core or technical, what made them different was very unclear. Each educator had a very different conception of what defines, differentiates or constitutes a complementary studies course. This range of variation may go some way to explaining why complementary courses seem out of place in engineering programs by educators and students alike

Informal Learning as Opportunity for Competency Development and Broadened Engagement in Engineering

Informal learning is increasingly being recognized as a way to complement the formal curriculum within engineering and provide additional opportunities for competency development while engaging diverse students. Learning about engineering occurs throughout life, via experiential and spontaneous opportunities that inform our understandings of the world. Learning is not confined to the engineering curriculum and class time but, rather, continues informally and implicitly throughout the daily lives and activities of university students. Often framed in contrast to formal learning, informal learning is more as it represents a significant portion of students’ time and effort and contributes to their persistence, competence development, and broadened engagement. This chapter provides an overview of informal learning, discussing its definition, history, and settings and activities relevant to engineering education. The second section of the chapter focuses on the benefits and outcomes of informal learning, related to competency development and engagement of diverse learners. The third section identifies implications and provides recommendations for engineering researchers and practitioners to study, integrate, and recognize informal learning as an opportunity to prepare the current and future generations of engineers for 21st-century challenges, via cultivating the requisite competencies and engaging students with a range of backgrounds and experiences

What is the role of ethics in accreditation documentation from a global view?

Ethics in engineering has long been an important element in engineering programmes, however these subjects are often taught at a basic learning level with little attempt to connect to demonstrative learning outcomes. In recent years there has been a step change in the importance of ethics as an integral part of engineering programmes and is reflected in the text of accreditation documents. In this paper we expand our analysis from an earlier study, which focused on four European countries, to understand the role of ethics on a more global scale. We conducted a multi-country analysis on how and where ethics features in accreditation documents in twelve countries across five continents (Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France/Switzerland, Ireland, Japan, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, UK and USA). We identified explicit or implicit references to ethics education, extracted verbs relating to learning outcomes, and compared definitions of key terms. A comparison to Bloom’s taxonomy showed considerably higher frequency of verbs linked to ethics teaching associated to lower levels of cognitive learning. Definitions of terms relating to the process of accreditation were often lacking in documents, highlighting a need for setting terms of reference. This study highlights differences in how ethics is described in accreditation documents. However, more needs to be done to explicitly highlight ethics as an integral part of engineering education. Relying on implicit links to ethics leaves the role of ethics open to interpretation, resulting in uneven emphasis in the translation of ethics within programme designs

Basic science232. Certolizumab pegol prevents pro-inflammatory alterations in endothelial cell function

Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major comorbidity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a leading cause of death. Chronic systemic inflammation involving tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF) could contribute to endothelial activation and atherogenesis. A number of anti-TNF therapies are in current use for the treatment of RA, including certolizumab pegol (CZP), (Cimzia ®; UCB, Belgium). Anti-TNF therapy has been associated with reduced clinical cardiovascular disease risk and ameliorated vascular function in RA patients. However, the specific effects of TNF inhibitors on endothelial cell function are largely unknown. Our aim was to investigate the mechanisms underpinning CZP effects on TNF-activated human endothelial cells. Methods: Human aortic endothelial cells (HAoECs) were cultured in vitro and exposed to a) TNF alone, b) TNF plus CZP, or c) neither agent. Microarray analysis was used to examine the transcriptional profile of cells treated for 6 hrs and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysed gene expression at 1, 3, 6 and 24 hrs. NF-κB localization and IκB degradation were investigated using immunocytochemistry, high content analysis and western blotting. Flow cytometry was conducted to detect microparticle release from HAoECs. Results: Transcriptional profiling revealed that while TNF alone had strong effects on endothelial gene expression, TNF and CZP in combination produced a global gene expression pattern similar to untreated control. The two most highly up-regulated genes in response to TNF treatment were adhesion molecules E-selectin and VCAM-1 (q 0.2 compared to control; p > 0.05 compared to TNF alone). The NF-κB pathway was confirmed as a downstream target of TNF-induced HAoEC activation, via nuclear translocation of NF-κB and degradation of IκB, effects which were abolished by treatment with CZP. In addition, flow cytometry detected an increased production of endothelial microparticles in TNF-activated HAoECs, which was prevented by treatment with CZP. Conclusions: We have found at a cellular level that a clinically available TNF inhibitor, CZP reduces the expression of adhesion molecule expression, and prevents TNF-induced activation of the NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, CZP prevents the production of microparticles by activated endothelial cells. This could be central to the prevention of inflammatory environments underlying these conditions and measurement of microparticles has potential as a novel prognostic marker for future cardiovascular events in this patient group. Disclosure statement: Y.A. received a research grant from UCB. I.B. received a research grant from UCB. S.H. received a research grant from UCB. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interes