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In Media

Select content published in journals, conferences, and social media.

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June 14, 2023

Transforming Engineering Education 2023 Conference Proceedings

Transforming engineering education is the theme of the 9th International Research Symposium on Problem-Based Learning (IRSPBL2023), convened by the MIT School of Engineering, Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Aalborg Centre for Problem-Based Learning in Engineering Science and Sustainability under the auspices of UNESCO. This book presents the 54 contributions from 16 different countries from this IRSPBL edition.

The contributions cover a relevant number of topics, from Collaboration with Industry to Creativity and Interdisciplinarity, Development of Professional Competences, Digitalization and Online Learning, and Education for Sustainability.

Guerra, A., Chen, J., Lavi, R., Bertel, L. B., & Lindsay, E. (Eds.) (2023). Transforming
Engineering Education. (OA ed.) Aalborg Universitetsforlag. International Research

Symposium on PBL. Retrieved from https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/transforming-
engineering-education.

Access the conference proceedings

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April 10, 2023

Creating Analogies for Design Problem-Solving: Initial Evaluation of an Engineering Faculty Workshop

We conducted an initial evaluation of a professional development workshop for engineering faculty on the creation of analogies for addressing design problems. The ability to create meaningful analogies is of central importance in engineering. In our in-person undergraduate engineering education workshop, we taught faculty a method and process for creating meaningful analogies for addressing design problems, a skill which they can then teach their own students. Initial evaluation of workshop was successful: participants created meaningfulness analogies and gave overall positive feedback on the workshop.

This paper was presented virtually in the VII IEEE World Engineering Education Conference (EDUNINE2023).

Read the article in IEEE Xplore

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March 31, 2023

Giving an invited talk about active learning

Applying active learning approaches to teach undergraduate students how to tackle real-world, ill-defined problems with problem structuring,
systems thinking, and creative ideation.

 

I gave a virtual talk as part of the hybrid conference "Revolutionizing Education Through Artificial Intelligence: Progress and Promises", at the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy,

Watch a video recording of the session

(my talk starts at 1hr 58mins)

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Feb 9, 2023

A Proposed Case-Based Learning Framework for Fostering Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Creative and Critical Thinking

This paper outlines our proposal for a case-based learning pedagogical framework which aims to foster undergraduate engineering students’ creative and critical thinking. The framework provides scaffolding of the learning process for students using a sequence of case-based learning implementations with varying levels of student autonomy. 

Read the article in Journal of Science Education and Technology

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Dec 11, 2022

Guesting on Skills Podcast

Tal Moskovich and Rea Lavi spoke about ill-defined problems, what they are, how to address them, and how to structure them.

 

They also spoke about creative ideation, systems thinking, and engineering education, among other topics.

The conversation is in Hebrew.

Listen to the conversation

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Oct 28, 2022

Guesting on Reflective Teaching in A Digital Age Podcast

Introducing engineering students to systems thinking early in their education is critical for their development and learning success.

 

In this episode, Dr. Rea Lavi talks to us about the System Architecture-Function-Outcome (SAFO) framework he developed to help foster systems thinking in undergraduate students. He explains how this framework can be integrated in engineering teaching and used to assess systems thinking in first year engineering students.​

Listen to the conversation

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May 25, 2022

Decarbonizing Ulaanbaatar: Using DIMES-FIRST Methodology to Tackle a Climate and Sustainability Challenge

The DIMES-FIRST methodology for structured problem-solving integrates concepts, methods, and techniques from systems engineering, marketing planning, social sciences, and cognitive psychology.

In spring 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) undergraduate students applied this methodology in Dr. Lavi's course, Tackling Challenges in Climate and Sustainability with Ways of Thinking. 

Read my Medium article

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Mar 22, 2022

Teaching and Assessing Systems Thinking Workshop Hones Teaching Skills

Grasping the complexity of nearly any discipline increasingly requires thinking from a systems perspective. Whether in engineering, biology, or social sciences, understanding how components of a system interact to produce desirable and undesirable outcomes, which in turn impact the system itself, is necessary for solving challenges and developing innovations.

 

For two days this March, participants from J-WEL member organizations gathered online to explore the challenge of teaching this skill with the guidance of members of MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program.

Read the MIT J-WEL newsletter article

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Dec 19, 2021

Three Ways of Thinking for Tackling Open-Ended Problems

I would like to present you with a quick (30 minutes) method for generating a wide variety of ideas for solving an open-ended problem. I adapted this example, with some changes for anonymity and clarity, from a first-year class I teach on ways of thinking for tackling open-ended challenges.

Read the LinkedIn article

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Oct 5, 2021

Interview on Fresh Perspectives

An interview with MIT Teaching + Learning Lab (TLL) for their series, Fresh Perspectives.

1) What class did you teach during the pandemic and how was it structured?

 

2) How did you plan your remote class sessions?

3) How did you assess student learning?

Watch the interview on the TLL YouTube channel

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Sep 1, 2021

The NEET Ways of Thinking: Implementing them at MIT and Assessing their Efficacy

In Fall 2016, the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chartered the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) initiative. NEET aims to educate young engineers to build the new machines and systems that will address societal needs of the 21st century.

 

Students enter NEET in their sophomore year and join one of five threads, namely Advanced Materials Machines, Autonomous Machines, Digital Cities, Living Machines, and Renewable Energy Machines. Threads are cross-departmental pathways of subjects and projects in interdisciplinary areas.

NEET students practice the 12 NEET Ways of Thinking, which are cognitive approaches for tackling complex challenges.

Read the article in Advances in Engineering Education

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May 4, 2021

Are creative thinking and systems thinking related?

A discussion initiated by Dr. Lavi on ResearchGate, a social media platform for researchers.

Read/Join the discussion on ResearchGate

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Sep 1, 2021

Perceptions of STEM alumni and students on developing 21st century skills through methods of teaching and learning

21st century skills are essential for career readiness. We investigated the development of students’ 21st century skills at a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research university, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Read the article in Studies in Educational Evaluation

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