Factual description
The undergraduate course “Introduction to Living Systems” of the Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark has been selected to be investigated since it is relative to complex systems.
The philosophy of the course is based on the fundamental societal needs that complex living systems could efficiently cover.
The course is project-based-learning, where categories of complex living systems are briefly introduced to the students by expert teachers, alongside with the necessary learning tools. The students then are expected, through group work, to choose the specific living system they want to analyse and prepare an elaborate report that addresses the biological mechanisms, the social, environmental, scientific challenges that the living systems poses and propose new ways of improving the living system. The teaching of living systems course is clearly multidisciplinary. The teaching/learning tools of this course include active listening, mutual expectations and collaboration agreements, appropriate feedback methods, tailored to each student’s needs and personality, awareness of the cross-cultural dimensions e.g., religion, hierarchy limitations, work ethics and mentality, collaboration culture, etc. However, the most important element for the success of the course seems to be the group advisory meetings where the teacher facilitates an open scientific discussion. These meetings, if done properly, allow the teachers and the students to interact, discuss the ideas, argue, and progress the learning process towards the right direction.
Although systems thinking is essential for the students’ understanding of this course topic, a structured and in-depth introduction of systems thinking is considered to be too much for the scope and the learning objectives of the course. In general, for engineers, systems thinking should belong in the basic competencies’ toolbox.
According to the interviewee the knowledge of system boundaries, adaptation, evolutionary dynamics, self-organisation, and emergence are some of the characteristics of a complex system that could define its sustainable development. In the course described the students are introduced from the first lectures to the idea that different potential ethical challenges could be involve and should be taken into consideration when working with living systems. This aspect of living systems is addressed many times during the course in the students/teachers’ interactions.
Relevance in complex systems
This course is relevant with complex systems since Living systems practically have all the characteristics that define complex systems e.g., uncertainty, nonlinear dynamics, limited predictability, evolutionary dynamics, self-organisation, emergence, spontaneous order, adaptation, etc.
