Introducing Changemaking Engineering into an Operations Research Course: Some Unexpected Results

Abstract

With funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) IUSE/PFE REvolutionizing engineering and computer science Departments (RED) grant, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at the University of San Diego is working to produce and disseminate a model for redefining the engineering education canon with the goal of developing "Changemaking Engineers." One of the strategies for achieving this goal is to infuse traditional engineering classes with new materials that address this changemaking theme. The goal is for students to develop the same fundamental skills that they currently acquire, but to see better how these skills can be applied to problems and situations that don't appear in traditional textbooks. This greater perspective will encourage some students to pursue non-traditional career paths, and other to practice with greater awareness of the impact of engineering on society.In Fall 2017, changemaking engineering was introduced into the required deterministic operations research (OR) course taken by industrial and systems engineers at our university. Some changemaking elements were added to lectures, and the authors created a series of assignments that asked the students to think about the nexus of changemaking and operations research. Through this exercise, we learned that some assumptions about the student perspectives of changemaking, and even operations research were wrong. Some students considered any change, good or bad, to constitute changemaking. And students had many difficulties identifying problems where OR could be applied and conflated OR with other areas of engineering practice. This has caused us to rethink whether the course empowers students in the ways that it is intended to, and to propose restructuring the course for future offerings.

Re-contextualizing Civil Engineering Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…In addition to these large-scale institutional efforts, faculty members at these and other institutions have designed and implemented changes to contextualize material in individual courses. Olson and Acero, for example, describe the mixed success of their efforts to integrate "changemaking" into an operations research course [31]. Farrell et al integrated DEI focused case studies into an environmental engineering course [25].…”

Developing Changemaking Engineers – Year Five

“…We have published an overview of some of these efforts [1,2]. We have also published details about modules in existing courses including Statics [3,4], Heat Transfer [5] and Robotics [6] in Mechanical Engineering, Circuits [7,8] in Electrical Engineering, Operations Research [9] in Industrial & Systems Engineering, and Introduction to Materials Science [10,11,12]. In addition, we have described courses on User-Centered Design (UCD), Engineering and Social Justice [13], and an elective on Engineering Peace [14,15,16,17].…”

Work in Progress: Progress of the NSF RED Revolution

“…We are developing a new General Engineering program that incorporates this perspective [30]. In addition, we are developing modules that emphasize the sociotechnical nature of engineering for traditional courses including Heat Transfer [31], Materials Science [32], and Operations Research [33], as well as newer courses such as User-Centered Design, Engineering and Social Justice [34], and Engineering Peace [35,36]. Our industry partners have led the creation of an "Industry Scholars" program for first and second year engineering students to develop professional skills through workshops, field trips, internships, and interactions with professional engineers [37].…”