scholarly journals Systems Thinking Education—Seeing the Forest through the Trees

Systems ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigal Koral Kordova ◽  
Moti Frank ◽  
Anat Nissel Miller
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Myers Briggs Type Indicator ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Indispensable Tool

Systems thinking is an indispensable tool in comprehending and analyzing real-world phenomena. Observed processes are naturally composed of many interconnected components which ought to be studied jointly rather than individually. Engineering systems thinking is a very valuable skill, which helps to successfully execute multi-disciplinary projects. In high-tech companies that deal with complex and dynamic systems projects, the need for engineers with high systems thinking skills is growing. Engineers with high systems thinking skills are able to understand the big picture and the project in its entirety, both functionally and conceptually, without necessarily knowing all of the small details. Systems thinking enables understanding the entire system beyond its components, and clarifies the importance of the isolated component as part of the system as a whole. Systems thinking helps understand how sub-systems connect to one whole system, and provides solutions for the client’s specifications and requirements. In addition, systems thinking enables perceiving the inter-relationships and mutual influence among the system’s components and other systems. The current study examined the development of systems thinking among engineers and engineering students. In addition, the personality traits of engineers with high systems thinking skills were examined by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality type test. This article also presents the initial results of the development of a new systems thinking study course, taught as a pilot course to industrial and management engineering students. It seems that engineers with certain personality traits can acquire or improve their systems thinking capabilities through a gradual, long-term learning process and by acquiring the necessary tools. Additionally, the study includes recommendations for the continuation of ongoing research on developing systems thinking.

The Impact of Practitioners’ Personality Traits on Their Level of Systems-Thinking Skills Preferences

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Nagahi ◽  
Raed Jaradat ◽  
Simon R. Goerger ◽  
Michael Hamilton ◽  
Randy K. Buchanan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Developing systems thinking in a Project-Based Learning environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Sigal Kordova
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Engineering Systems ◽  
Thinking Skill ◽  
High Tech Industry ◽  
Industrial Sites ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Engineering Projects

As science and engineering projects are becoming increasingly more complex, sophisticated, comprehensive and multidisciplinary, there is a growing need for systems thinking skills to ensure successful project management. Systems thinking plays a major role in the initiation, effective management, and in facilitating inter-organizational tasks. This research assesses the capacity for engineering systems thinking and its contribution in carrying out a multidisciplinary project. The research also reviews the cognitive process through which systems thinking skill is acquired. The study focused on a group of students who have completed their senior design projects in high-tech industry, while their plans were being integrated into existing larger projects in the respective industrial sites. The systems thinking skill of the students was examined according to a questionnaire for assessing the Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking (CEST). Statistical analysis shows significant differences in the students capacity for systems thinking at the beginning and end of the work (p<0.001). This research demonstrates that systems thinking skills can be improved through awareness and involvement in multidisciplinary projects.

Systems thinking skills of undergraduate engineering students

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaobo Huang ◽  
Karim Heinz Muci-Kuchler ◽  
Mark D. Bedillion ◽  
Marius D. Ellingsen ◽  
Cassandra M. Degen
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering

Improving Systems Thinking Skills Of Second Year Engineering Students By An Introductory Project

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-98
Author(s):  
Gero Aharon
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Electrical Engineering ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Israel Institute ◽  
Cleaning Robot ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
First Time ◽  
Technion Israel Institute ◽  
Senior Engineer

AbstractIn 2011, the course Introductory Project in Electrical Engineering took place for the first time at the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The course was devised to expose sophomore students to the discipline of electrical engineering and improve their systems thinking skills. The core of the course was a design project of a window cleaning robot. This task was carried out by teams of five students, with personal instruction by a mentor, a senior engineer in the Department. The present research, which used quantitative tools alongside qualitative ones, indicates significant improvement in systems thinking skills of students who took the course.

Validity of a Measure of Critical Thinking Skills

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (3_part_2) ◽  
pp. 1223-1230
Author(s):  
Bruce Thompson ◽  
Janet G. Melancon
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Myers Briggs Type Indicator ◽  
Embedded Figures Test ◽  
Type Indicator ◽  
Embedded Figures ◽  
Myers Briggs

Based on data from 343 subjects, results suggest that Thompson's Test of Critical Thinking Skills has reasonable item difficulty and discrimination coefficients and appears to be valid. Construct validity was investigated by administering the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Group Embedded Figures Test. Although conclusions must be considered tentative pending additional study, the results warrant continued inquiry regarding the measure's value.

Barriers to Employment: Personality and Cognitive Predictors of Employment Status

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn McTurk ◽  
Jane Shakespeare-Finch
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Thinking Styles ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Myers Briggs Type Indicator ◽  
Cognitive Differences ◽  
Cognitive Predictors ◽  
Direct Training ◽  
Type Indicator ◽  
Barriers To Employment

Barriers to employment are linked to individual factors such as thinking styles and personality traits. Personality and cognitive differences between employed ( n = 55) and unemployed ( n = 57) cohorts were analysed to quantify the association between these variables and employment status. Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Thinking Styles Inventory, three hypothesised relationships were examined in terms of identifying predictors of employment status. Personality temperament was found to be a significant predictor (particularly Sensing Perceiving style: SP), and thinking type also accounted for variance in employment status. These findings may help direct training strategies adopted by employment agencies in assisting people who are unemployed, collaboratively targeting positive job access outcomes through their consultative partnerships.

scholarly journals Beyond the Central Dogma: Model-Based Learning of How Genes Determine Phenotypes

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. ar4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Reinagel ◽  
Elena Bray Speth
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Molecular Genetics ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Protein Function ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Skills Acquisition ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Scaffolded Instruction ◽  
Introductory Biology Course

In an introductory biology course, we implemented a learner-centered, model-based pedagogy that frequently engaged students in building conceptual models to explain how genes determine phenotypes. Model-building tasks were incorporated within case studies and aimed at eliciting students’ understanding of 1) the origin of variation in a population and 2) how genes/alleles determine phenotypes. Guided by theory on hierarchical development of systems-thinking skills, we scaffolded instruction and assessment so that students would first focus on articulating isolated relationships between pairs of molecular genetics structures and then integrate these relationships into an explanatory network. We analyzed models students generated on two exams to assess whether students’ learning of molecular genetics progressed along the theoretical hierarchical sequence of systems-thinking skills acquisition. With repeated practice, peer discussion, and instructor feedback over the course of the semester, students’ models became more accurate, better contextualized, and more meaningful. At the end of the semester, however, more than 25% of students still struggled to describe phenotype as an output of protein function. We therefore recommend that 1) practices like modeling, which require connecting genes to phenotypes; and 2) well-developed case studies highlighting proteins and their functions, take center stage in molecular genetics instruction.

scholarly journals The Level of Critical and Analytical Thinking Skills among Electrical and Electronics Engineering Students, UKM

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafizah Husain ◽  
Siti Salasiah Mokri ◽  
Aini Hussain ◽  
Salina Abdul Samad ◽  
Rosadah Abd Majid
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Analytical Thinking
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