The Wicked Problems in Sustainable Engineering (WPSE) Initiative: Pilot Results of a Cross-Institutional Project-Based Course Offering.

Wicked problems are characterized as problems that lack a conclusive formulation, have numerous stakeholders, and have responses rather than solutions. Many technical sustainability problems show elements of wickedness (e.g. climate change, infrastructure, urban planning). Exposure to wicked problems during a student's undergraduate education is both critical and challenging. As a response to instructional barriers in this area, Engineers for a Sustainable World has developed the Wicked Problems in Sustainable Engineering (WPSE) Initiative. In this paper, we demonstrate the need for and feasibility of a cross-campus initiative that introduces students to sustainability and wicked problems and provides students the opportunity to work through small components of wicked problems in design teams. We present the program design along with the results of a pilot year of the WPSE course offerings at two universities that participated during the fall of 2013. Both courses had student teams design responses to root causes of air pollution as a central project. Results of pre- and post- surveys of student attitudes towards sustainability and professional practice, as well as critical design reviews spaced throughout the semester, are presented to demonstrate our pilot results. As WPSE prepares for its second year with a larger number of colleges and universities, we discuss lessons learned and suggested changes for future offerings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]