Course Syllabus

CEE 5984: Human Behavior and Infrastructure Systems

Instructor

Tripp Shealy, Ph.D. 

113 Patton Hall

tshealy@vt.edu

Office Hours: Wednesday 3pm-5pm

Or by appointment: calendly.com/tshealy 

Meetings

Building: Whit 281

T: 5:00pm-7:45pm

Students may leave if the guest lecturer or I have not arrived after 5 minutes.

Course Description

To improve the well-being of present-day society, future generations, and the natural environment, students will learn to creatively apply recent advances in behavioral and cognitive science to infrastructure systems and processes. The course begins with an introduction to systems thinking and design thinking. Students will then review the foundations of decision theory (i.e., expected utility theory) and strategies (i.e. multi-criteria decision making) then learn how actual decisions deviate from the predictions of these rational models (i.e. bounded rationality, cognitive barriers, heuristics). Students will investigate how stakeholders process and deal with complex risk and how perceptions, judgments, and decision environments influence behavior. Students will practice how to communicate risk and uncertainty across stakeholder groups (owners, community groups, system users) and develop strategies to avoid biases. Decisions about infrastructure systems and processes are typically made in groups. So, students will be introduced to game theory and group decision making rules to influence the decisions of infrastructure stakeholders collectively. Students will not only critically examine how decisions about infrastructure systems are made but also how these decisions contribute to user behavior. Each week students are responsible for assigned readings from academic journals and book chapters. The course culminates in a final project. The final project will allow students to creatively evaluate a specific infrastructure system problem and apply a behavioral perspective to design a solution.  

Learning outcomes

This course will add normative and descriptive decision theory, cognitive strategies, and understanding of human behavior to engineers’ repertoires. 

Students will:

• Practice techniques, strategies, and models for normative and behavioral decision making
• Harness behavioral and cognitive science to design and construct sustainable infrastructure systems
• Recognize how engineers shape “downstream” user decisions with lasting impact on the environment and society
• Communicate persuasively with others about course topics

Course Structure and Requirements

This course introduces students to behavioral and cognitive science assuming no prior knowledge of these subjects. Some basic knowledge of research design and statistics will be an asset. The pace of the course requires full and active participation. Students will need to complete assigned readings (and sometimes watch videos or listen to podcasts) before each lecture. Each week will be a mixture of (a) short lectures on the week’s topic to introduce students to key concepts, theories and empirical findings, (b) class discussion to critically and interactively evaluate the material and (c) small group discussions to apply the new insights to engineering problems with a focus on infrastructure issues and applications for sustainability. 

In weekly individual reaction papers, students will critically reflect on the assigned readings and connect them to infrastructure design and systems. The mid-term exam will test students’ mastery of the theoretical and empirical foundations of the course. The final project will allow students to creatively evaluate a specific infrastructure system problem and apply a behavioral perspective to design a solution. Students will orally present a proposal for a behavioral intervention to improve infrastructure system performance and ways of testing its effectiveness.

Students will submit a final individual paper with a reflection on their course experience, main lessons and take-away from the readings, the class discussion, and the final project work. 

Your course grade is determined by the mid-term (25%), final paper (25%), weekly assignments (27%), active learning project (15%), and active class participation (8%).

Note: This course will not use a textbook. Assigned readings will either be academic papers or book chapters (uploaded on canvas). The deadline for weekly assignments (to be uploaded to canvas) is midnight on Monday. No late submissions are accepted.

Honor Code

All assignments submitted shall be considered "graded work” and all aspects of your coursework are covered by the Honor Code. All projects and homework assignments are to be completed individually unless otherwise specified.

 CHEATING

Cheating includes the intentional use of unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids or other devices or materials in any academic exercise, or attempts thereof.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism includes the copying of the language, structure, programming, computer code, ideas, and/or thoughts of another and passing off the same as one's own original work, or attempts thereof.

FALSIFICATION

Falsification includes the statement of any untruth, either verbally or in writing, with respect to any element of one's academic work, or attempts thereof.

FABRICATION

Fabrication includes making up data and results, and recording or reporting them, or submitting fabricated documents, or attempts thereof.  

MULTIPLE SUBMISSION

Multiple submission involves the submission for credit—without authorization of the instructor receiving the work—of substantial portions of any work (including oral reports) previously submitted for credit at any academic institution, or attempts thereof.

COMPLICITY

Complicity includes intentionally helping another to engage in an act of academic misconduct, or attempts thereof.

VIOLATION OF UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE, DEPARTMENTAL, PROGRAM, COURSE, OR FACULTY RULES

The violation of any University, College, Departmental, Program, Course, or Faculty Rules relating to academic matters that may lead to an unfair academic advantage by the student violating the rule(s).