2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As engineering educators, it is our imperative to incorporate issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into our teaching. On the flip side, we must also strive to assess student performance with the same characteristics. Achieving both of these can be difficult, yet not insurmountable. The broad range of system dynamics (SD) makes it rather adaptable to incorporating DEI due to the ability to cover systems ranging from mechanical and biological to social and political. Systems such as the latter were introduced into as part of the undergraduate Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) curriculum. They were used to assess how DEI can be captured and the results can be used to help shape a framework for immersion of DEI into the ISE curriculum.

Two pilot studies were performed; the first was a recent senior project which designed qualitative and quantitative system models of homelessness in Philadelphia for the purposes of policy making and the second was a semester long course in systems thinking and dynamics. They were used as a means of piloting new non-traditional assessments and raising student awareness that DEI should be central in engineering practice. One main premise was not to teach the topics overtly, but rather raise DEI issues via activities. These in and out of class learning activities, primarily grounded in a semester long project, included things like role playing, self-assessments, case studies and impromptu polls.

From the teaching perspective, preliminary results show that students are aware of issues related to DEI, however, it is unclear whether or not there was an increase in student comprehension and the need for a more holistic approach to engineering. What did become apparent however, was the need for an increase in faculty training, a general awareness and acceptance of the validity of non-traditional assessments and projects as well as tools and methodologies for translating that into the curriculum.