Embedding Systems Thinking in the Civil Engineering Curriculum: A Dialogic System Dynamics Approach

Systems thinking is a fundamental competency in modern engineering education, equipping graduates to decipher complex socio-technical interactions within infrastructure decision-making. This study evaluates an instructional framework implemented in a first-semester civil engineering course on systems complexity. Combining dialogic teaching with system dynamics, the curriculum guided novice undergraduates in constructing stock-and-flow models of the Ecuadorean electric power grid. Empirical findings indicate a marked cognitive transition amongst learners, who progressed from isolated, linear cause-and-effect assumptions towards multi-layered, non-linear reasoning. These cohorts incorporated socio-technical parameters—including population growth and thermal generation economics—and replicated emergent grid vulnerabilities, notably widespread blackouts resulting from underinvestment and hydrologic drought. Symmetrical classroom discourse provided the epistemic impetus for this transition, prompting students to externalise mental models and contest system boundaries. Therefore, visual stock-and-flow formulations grounded dynamic feedback mechanisms into observable, quantitative structures. These results demonstrate that visual dynamic modelling, underpinned by structured dialogic inquiry, provides an accessible, robust pedagogical methodology for developing systemic reasoning in introductory engineering education.