Nina Bohm: Climate change is not only changing the weather; it is changing engineering education
Written by Merel Engelsman
Sustainability challenges require current and next generations of engineers to be able to make impactful decisions in uncertain times. In her 4TU.CEE PhD research within the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Nina Bohm investigates how the competency of dealing with uncertainty can be more effectively taught and acquired through transdisciplinary and challenge-based courses.
In one of her gripping speeches, climate activist Greta Thunberg hammered politicians for not taking facts, and thereby the school system, seriously. This motivated Nina Bohm to work on education that is about more than conveying facts. The pinnacle, for now, is her PhD under the wings of the 4TU Centre for Engineering Education on how engineering students can be taught the sustainability skills that current politicians and society might be lacking.
“To me, there is a strong link between sustainability, uncertainty and education,” she says. “Society cannot afford that the energy transition comes to a standstill. Despite the uncertainties inherent to sustainability challenges, engineers need to keep moving, tinkering, and designing, and making decisions with unpredictable short and long-term effects. The question is: how do universities effectively teach their engineering students to keep moving forward under uncertainty?”
There is a strong link between sustainability, uncertainty and education
Do you want to attend Nina's PhD Defense?
PhD title: Educating uncertainty: How students and teachers deal with uncertainty intransdisciplinary courses on urban sustainability
Where: Senaatszaal, Aula TU Delft (Mekelweg 5, 2628 CC, Delft, Zuid-Holland)
When: Wednesday 13 November 2024, 9:30h (Layperson’s talk), 10:00h (Defence)
Abstract: Transdisciplinary approaches are increasingly prevalent in higher education curricula. These approaches involve partnering with real-world actors to tackle real-world problems, perhaps most notably the contemporary sustainability challenge. How to balance environmental sustainability with social and economic goals is a contested issue, with varying perspectives on the problems and solutions, even among experts. Furthermore, sustainability education is shaped amidst an unpredictable political landscape and yet unknown technological advancements. This diversity of viewpoints, unpredictability, and a lack of knowledge makes uncertainty an inescapable part of transdisciplinary sustainability education.
Until now, little research has informed teachers and students how to deal with uncertainty. The central question in this research is therefore: How can transdisciplinary education be designed so that students learn to deal with uncertainty in sustainability challenges?
The purpose of this dissertation is twofold: (1) to further refine the theoretical understanding of uncertainty in transdisciplinary education and learn to deal with it; (2) to highlight principles for designing education that empower both students and teachers to navigate uncertainty effectively. The research approach is based on Educational Design Research (EDR), which aims to combine scientific research findings with practical experiences from people involved in education.