Have you noticed how, for example, doctors think differently to engineers, scientists think differently to lawyers, entrepreneurs think differently to graphic designers, managers think differently to mathematicians and so on? How does thinking in a certain way influence what you do and who you become?

Equally interesting to me are those individuals who cross disciplinary boundaries and switch from one profession to another. For example, scientists who practice as lawyers, doctors who become management consultants, graphic designers who become web developers, or statisticians who get into data analytics and so on. How do these professionals learn to think in new ways?

I am fascinated by such professionals and their ways of thinking, learning, and doing. My own life journey has involved exploring the practices of Engineering, Design and Interactive Arts, and Education. Along the way I have researched and taught how we can develop various disciplinary competencies. Some ways of thinking that have attracted my attention over the years are systems thinking, design thinking, mathematical thinking, critical thinking, interpretive thinking, creative thinking, and entrepreneurial thinking.

My educational, research, and professional trajectory reflects a deep love for understanding, applying, and teaching various disciplinary modes of thought and practice. In my PhD studies in Engineering Education I investigated how written and oral communications skills can be integrated into a problem-based approach to promote systems thinking. The inquiry was informed by literature from multiple domains: Education, Philosophical Hermeneutics, Cognitive Psychology, Anthropology, Qualitative Research Methodologies and Methods, Science Technology and Design Studies, Sociology of Risk and Safety, and Studies in Organizational Learning and Management. Exposure to such diverse disciplinary communities sensitized me to the unique styles as well as common features of academic thinking, research, and writing within and across those domains.

Behaviours, Norms, and Behavioral Change

In this WRDS 150 section we explore behaviours, norms, and behavioural change.

We have voluntarily adopted some of these behaviours, norms, and changes; some have been enforced, and still others have been influenced by those around us. These behaviours, norms, and changes appear at personal as well as at societal levels. How do various disciplinary researchers study behaviours, norms, and behavioural change. What research writing practices do they engage in to communicate their findings about behaviours, norms, and behavioural change? Using peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles, writing exercises, discussions, and critical feedback on writing assignments, you will be able to construct your own text-based research proposal and research paper on a behaviour, norm that you’re keen to study. Your paper will assist keen readers to change their understanding of your chosen topic.