Rea Lavi, PhD

MIT Lecturer | Technion PhD | Contact me

Systems thinking | Problem structuring | Creative ideation

I love to help people solve problems. I help instructors teach and students learn how to address complex problems. I research, develop, teach and apply frameworks, methods, and tools for problem-based learning, including systems thinking and creative ideation. With over a decade of experience, I draw insights from the learning sciences, systems engineering, and my prior startup experience.

One-page CV

Academic CV

Sid AI Web Platform for Problem-Based Learning

The Sid AI platform enables instructors of any discipline and level of experience to implement problem-based learning (PBL), following a research-driven methodology of 'Structure, Ideate, Develop' (SID).

With Sid AI and the SID methodology, instructors can foster students' problem-solving skills, including systems thinking, metacognition, collaboration, creative ideation, and more. Each step in SID (and on the platform) includes detailed instructions, an assessment rubric, and a learning reflection form.

Both instructors and students are helped by the chatbot Sid, a virtual teaching assistant designed to help with assessing student work and creative brainstorming.

The Sid AI project was funded by an Education Innovation grant from MIT and the platform was developed by TamerinTech.

You can access the Sid AI login page here (registration by invite only).

Structure and Ideate are based on my own work, while Develop is based on the work of Prof. Senay Purzer from Purdue University's School of Engineering Education.

Sid AI and the SID methodology are also suitable for structuring and addressing complex problems in organizations.

To learn more about the SID methodology and the Sid AI platform, and to request a free trial:

Instructors (school, college, university) - click here for form
Managers (organization, company, business) - click here for form

SAFO Pedagogical Framework for Introductory Systems Thinking

SAFO, or System Architecture-Function-Outcome, is A transdisciplinary engineering education framework for first-year STEM instructors to teach and assess systems thinking to first-year STEM students.

The framework covers introductory systems thinking for describing and prescribing artificial systems across three aspects, including their intra- and inter-relations:

Architecture, what the system is - structure and behavior (interactions between parts).
Function, what the system architecture does - boundary systems with input/s and output/s.
Outcome, how the system function affects people - stakeholders, problem, benefit/s, and detriment/s

SAFO in included in the SID methodology, within the 'Ideate" stage's final step, 'Transcend', where the selected refined solution is described as a system.

Peer-reviewed publications involving the SAFO framework:

Lavi, R., Breslow, L., Salek, M. M., & Crawley, E. F. (2023). Fostering and assessing the systems thinking of first-year engineering students using the system architecture-function-purpose framework. Int. J. Eng. Educ, 39, 176-188.
Lavi, R., & Bertel, L. B. (2024). The System Architecture-Function-Outcome framework for fostering and assessing systems thinking in first-year STEM education and its potential applications in case-based learning. Education Sciences, 14(7), 720. (click here to view in a new tab)
Bertel, L. B., Lavi, R., Rathcke, K., Coelho, N. F., & Dyremose, S. C. S. (2025). Towards a framework for assessing systems thinking in collaborative problem-solving in STEM. In 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. (click here to view in a new tab)

MIT OpenCourseWare Resources

SP.248 NEET Ways of Thinking (fall 2023 materials)

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This course gives first-year students a unique opportunity to explore the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program while acquiring valuable problem-solving skills. It introduces students to the NEET Ways of Thinking, which are cognitive approaches for tackling complex challenges valued by industry and for thriving in an uncertain and rapidly changing world. Student teams engage in challenge-based learning in interdisciplinary engineering education.

Defining Real-World Problems With the DIS Method

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This self-paced module for STEM novices / first-year STEM students introduces and applies the DIS method for structuring (defining) real-world problems. DIS stands for 'Describe, Inquire, State' and is domain-agnostic. This method is a simplified version of the 'Structure' stage in the SID methodology.

Select Peer-Reviewed Publications

(click on a reference below to view it in a new tab)