2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering for One Planet (EOP) has designed a framework of student outcomes (Framework) intended to be a tool for transforming engineering education to one that enables engineers to provide engineering “solutions while minimizing potential negative environmental consequences.” The Framework outlines nine outcome categories, including systems thinking, environmental literacy, social responsibility, responsible business and economy, environmental impact measurement, materials choice, design, critical thinking, and communication and teamwork. This Framework also includes learning outcomes that enable assessment of students' ability to design and formulate solutions while minimizing negative environmental and social consequences. Aspects of this broad Framework can be applied throughout an engineering curriculum, but that commands the development of a new mindset for faculty and students. This new mindset requires a fundamental change to how engineering is taught.
This paper focuses on implementing two Systems Thinking outcomes in a 4th-year Thermodynamics course. The outcomes are:
EOP Systems Thinking 1: “Explain interconnectedness (e.g., intersecting, related and/or connected systems; human actions and global environmental and social impacts and consequences; synergies and rebound effects) and how all human-made designs and activities rely upon and are embedded within ecological and social systems”
EOP Systems Thinking 3: “Apply relevant concepts from required disciplines to the study of real-world problems and their solutions with empathic and ethical consideration for communities/societies, environmental justice, and cultural awareness.
These outcomes are addressed in a 3-week project assigned in the class. Students are asked to recommend whether a condensing furnace run on natural gas or a heat pump should replace an old natural gas furnace in a private home. While some may find this to have an obvious engineering solution, the answer is not straightforward when considering the broader effects. The idea is to increase system boundaries beyond the design objects to include the environment, society, and culture. Students are expected to analyze options by performing technical calculations in specific societal and cultural contexts, use appropriate engineering codes, familiarize themselves with existing and future laws, and consider public health, safety, and welfare in evaluating their solutions' global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic implications.
The class is taught in a flipped format. Students are required to watch videos that address technical background knowledge. They are expected to research the codes, laws, and other inputs, and a program manager for residential space heating from a local utility is invited to speak about applications and answer students’ questions. A philosophy professor provides a lecture on broader societal and cultural implications.
The paper will include descriptions of the project, deliverables, theoretical framework, and applied pedagogy, as well as a grading rubric and examples of student work. It will also provide details on designing this course module for applications in learning management systems, such as Canvas. The paper will also address how these two EOP outcomes relate to the ABET Student Outcomes 2 and 4 and give an example of a grading rubric used to assess both.