McCowan Socio-Technical Services

McCowan Socio-Technical Services
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ David Bruce McCowan, P.Eng. ] [ The Sixth Dimension ] [ Papers and Publications ] [ Testimonials ] [ Community and Classroom ] [ Technological Design for a Sustainable Society ]

Bringing Society and Engineering
to a Closer Understanding

D. Bruce McCowan, P.Eng.
19 Monarchwood Crescent
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3A 1H3
Tel 416-447-4895
Email Address As Above

Professional Engineer

Author

Speaker

Community Projects

Information Processing Program

Some Clients

The Coleman Company
Nortel Manufacturing
Danby Products
Ogilvie and Company
Great Dane Consultants

Papers and Publications

What Others Say About My Work

Detailed cv

Decision-Making for Engineers

Communication is certainly a core value for everyone in society, including engineers. In many cases the mere analysis and summary of a situation can make the difference between "good judgement" and "poor judgement".

How can engineers improve their decision-making in a situation? In fundamental terms, it comes down to:

valid interpretation of many unordered inputs

processing the acceptable inputs according to reasonable protocol
outputting -- writing -- argument, conclusions and recommendations in a more useful presentation

Of course, for the purposes of engineering decision-making, the "more useful presentation" must clearly go to the heart of the technical matter. In otherwords, the "writing" is key. A poorly written argument will convince no one of the dangers of a particular path of action.

Lesson Plan
Information Processing
Engineers and the Social Sciences

This Lesson Plan for information processing uses local history as a catalyst -- in particular, how writing can be used as a very critical element in the learning and decision-making processes. Although intended primarily for senior high school students, I can adapt the lesson plan for an "Engineers and the Social Sciences" evening course.

My Information Processing program begins at this Educational Resource.

Visitors Since Feb. 9, 2002
Hit Counter

Privacy Statement