Integrating Affective Engagement into Systems Engineering Education

In this paper we address the challenges and importance of developing the students’ affectiveengagement with the cognitive content offered in systems engineering education. Systemsengineering is concerned with developing the most appropriate total system solution to address aneed. Systems engineering methods used to find this solution require applying a systemsperspective while making tradeoffs of the relative benefits of each set of possible approaches to aproblem. However, the practical application of systems engineering is to seek a comprehensivedesign solution that satisfies a range of constraints and provides an adequate solution that“satisfices” the stakeholders. Applying the systems engineering method in order to gain theadvantage of an optimal rather than adequate solution, demands that the systems engineerbelieves in the value of the methods, techniques, and perspectives of the systems engineeringmethod, even at times where the method may seem indirect or counterintuitive to performingengineering work. Therefore, systems engineering education must engage the students in boththe cognitive domain - developing ability to perform the techniques, and in the affective domain- transforming the student’s belief to recognize the positive value of the systems engineeringmethod. This paper discusses: 1) the current gap in addressing the affective domain in systemsengineering education, 2) the importance of closing that gap to enable the effectiveimplementation of systems engineering on the job, and 3) related issues and challenges.Following this discussion, the paper proposes a framework for assessing the development of thestudent’s affective engagement in systems engineering methods Refereed/Peer-reviewed