How do mental models of social-ecological systems influence engineering design decisions for sustainability?
Design for Sustainability: How Mental Models of Social-Ecological Systems Shape Engineering Design Decisions
Modeling social-ecological systems in engineering design decisions
Approach
- Elicit how students and instructors represent social, ecological, and technical dimensions of design problems
- Compare mental models across institutions and learning contexts
- Develop decision-support representations that make sustainability tradeoffs more visible
Objectives
- Develop computational models of how people view social-ecological-technological systems
- Create decision support tools for sustainable design
- Evaluate impact on engineering design outcomes
Evidence and materials
- NSF Engineering Education Centers award
- Collaborative project with Virginia Tech partners focused on social-ecological-technical systems thinking in engineering design.
- Understanding instructor decision-making in engineering education for sustainable development
- Related work comparing how instructors in Denmark and the United States reason about engineering education for sustainable development.
Tools from this project
Team
- PI
- Co-PI
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- Dr. Marie Paretti (Engineering Education)
- Co-PI
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- Dr. Tripp Shealy (Civil Engineering)
- Project Alumni
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- Dr. Avinash Aruon
- Felicity Bilow (Former Graduate Research Assistant)