Developing Judgment to Address Wicked Problems in Engineering

A special event co-hosted with Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro)

Aaron W. Johnson, SM '10, PhD '15, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering & Core Faculty member of the Engineering Education Research Program, University of Michigan

Engineers constantly face “wicked problems,” ill-defined and complex sociotechnical problems with undefined and often-shifting constraints and requirements. Many students enter engineering to tackle these wicked problems in their future careers; however, the well-defined, closed-ended, and decontextualized problems prevalent in undergraduate engineering education do not allow students to develop the judgment and critical thinking needed to address them.

Dr. Aaron Johnson will discuss a method to help engineering students develop the judgment needed to address wicked problems. He will share design-based research that studies learning in the context of new educational interventions. Specifically, the talk will focus on his work designing group-based open-ended problems in engineering science courses and creating a related taxonomy of emerging engineering modeling judgment. This taxonomy outlines how engineering students make informed decisions when developing and using mathematical models to address open-ended problems in class and on student project teams. The talk will conclude with practical implications for engineering education, particularly as they relate to the ever-expanding availability and capability of generative AI, and future research directions.

All are welcome! Register on Zoom