Systems Thinking Curriculum as “Strategy”

摘要

The number of Industrial Engineering Departments has recently grown to more than30 in Turkey, and competition for good students is tough. Most departments followconventional industrial engineering curricula based on the North American modelwhere systems concepts and systems thinking are not as much in focus as quantitativeanalysis and mathematical modelling. The IE Department of Middle East TechnicalUniversity has a tradition of emphasising the systems approach and has recentlydecided to develop an educational strategy by expanding and building upon thistradition. It is thought that emphasising critical systems thinking is a prerequisite formaking effective use of mathematical models and for effective IE practice. This paperreports on the methodology and the process of curriculum planning as strategy.