ISTEP’s faculty deliver courses to support and enrich student learning which can culminate in minors and certificates such as the Engineering Business Minor; the Certificate in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Small Business; the Certificate in Communication; the Certificate in Engineering Leadership; and the Certificate in Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Engineering.
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Course Descrptions
TEP234: Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Complementary Studies (CS) Elective
The age of enterprise has arrived. Strategic use of technology in all sorts of businesses makes the difference between success and failure for these firms. Wealth creation is a real option for many and the business atmosphere is ready for you! Increasingly, people are seeing the advantages of doing their own thing, in their own way, in their own time. Entrepreneurs can control their own lives, structure their own progress and be accountable for their own success - they can fail, but they cannot be fired! After all, engineers are the most capable people to be in the forefront of this drive to the business life of the 21st century.
The course is based on real life issues, not theoretical developments or untried options. Topics covered include: Who is an entrepreneur; Canadian business environment; Acquisitions; Different business types (retail, wholesale, manufacturing, and services); Franchising; Human resources, Leadership, Business Law; and many others. Several invited visitors provide the student with the opportunity to meet real entrepreneurs.
TEP320: Representing Science on Stage
Humanities and Social Studies (HSS) Elective
In this course students will explore representations of science and scientists on the stage, through critical and theatrical examination of play texts. The focus of the course is twofold, exploring the message–scientific theory and its impact–and the medium–theatre–and how these work together to transmit meaning. Classes alternate between discussion based seminars and practical studio work. This dual approach provides opportunities for students to pursue topics of interest covered in the plays, while learning more about theatre practice and performance techniques, including acting, directing, stagecraft and dramaturgy. Note that while an interest in theatre is an asset, previous experience in performance is not required and will not hinder participation in the course.
TEP321: Introduction to Science Communication
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
Introduces students to the history, theory and practice of communicating science to the public. We first establish a theoretical foundation for understanding the complex relationship between science, scientists, and the public, closely examining techniques and strategies for communicating about science to non-technical readers with a variety of backgrounds and ideological perspectives. We apply these concepts to contemporary case studies in multiple media, focusing on (mis)representations of climate, environmental, and biomedical sciences, breakthroughs in engineering. In doing so, we explore how the shift from traditional news to new media – including videos, podcasts, and social media – has changed how science is communicated to the public, plus the implications of this shift for scientists and engineers.
TEP324: Engineering and Social Justice
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
The purpose of this course is to enable future engineers to initiate, facilitate and moderate discussion between stakeholders with differing and/or opposing values and ideologies. The relationship between engineering and the concepts of social justice to develop the skills needed to take practical action in a complex world is explored. This course facilitates building personal responses to ideas of justice, bias and marginalization. These ideas affect Engineers and Engineering in general, domestically and globally, in projects and in contexts, such as the workplace and academic environment. Readings will be drawn from current writers on Engineering and Social Justice. Students will rehearse action through theatre techniques, developed to enable communities to practice and critique action.
TEP325: Engineering and Science in the Arts
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
This course studies art by focusing on its connection to engineering and science. Beginning with current examples of art, and then working back through time, the course will emphasize the longstanding tradition of extending the artistic imagination to technical pursuits. Taking examples from architecture, sculpture, painting, and the performing arts, the course will explore how these artistic disciplines have grown through their connection to engineering and science. At least two classes will include field trips to view art in Toronto.
TEP326: Special Topics in Creative Writing
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
In this course, students will explore the creative writing process, with an emphasis on the giving and receiving of critical feedback. This exploration will reinforce the iterative principles of the engineering design process and will provide students with flexible and transferable tools for them to apply to future engineering work. They will examine up to two genres of creative writing (fiction, science fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, screenwriting, playwriting, etc.) in order to hone their own creative and critical thinking skills. Students will be introduced to relevant elements of craft, will analyze representative literary examples, will create original creative work both in generative weekly exercises and in longer at-home assignments, will give and receive feedback from their peers through structured in-class workshops, and will apply this feedback to their own writing.
TEP327: Engineering and Law
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
Upon graduating university and entering the workforce, engineering students have little idea about how frequently in their professional lives their interactions, decisions, and actions will touch on various areas of law. This course is designed to highlight the amount of overlap between these two pillars in today's society. Some examples include: acting as an expert witness, preparing a patent, creating a contract for supplies and more. By the end of this course, students will have a working understanding of the intersection between Engineering and Law, and be able to navigate the legal complexities in their professional and business lives.
TEP343: Engineering Leadership
Complementary Studies (CS) Elective
This course is a practical approach to being a more productive engineer, based on the premise that for technology to become a reality, it must be translated through people. A key is understanding engineers lead in ways that reflect their skills and mind set. The course begins with examining: 1) the meaning of leading (Why do something?); 2) the processes of leading (How do you do you create a vision and motivate others?); and 3) the tools of leading (What steps do you take to lead?). Learning frameworks and personal working styles inventories, provide practical tools to assist the student to understand human nature and the logic of learning, to become a competent leader of self, teams and organizations. The student prepares to become a competent leader by undertaking to learn (understand and integrate) key skills, character attributes and purposeful behaviours. The course presents strategies for development of high-performance teams. Special attention is given to a number of subjects: transformational change, organizational culture, high performance work systems, and self-leadership. The course material is delivered through lectures, readings, in-class discussion and a team project. The project is based on the team interviewing the CEO of an engineering-intensive company or senior leader in the community. Students will be required to submit written reflections on course content and their personal experience.
TEP440: To Engineer is Human
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
Behind every engineering feat is a human story. Students will learn to examine this often-overlooked perspective of engineering and its implications for engineering work. Engineering is at its core a human activity geared at helping to attain human goals, which requires the integration of many viewpoints, technical and non-technical. Drawing on perspectives from humanities and social science disciplines (e.g., sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, and political science) students will explore aspects of the human condition as it relates to engineering work: particularly the complexity of individuals, the contexts in which they operate, and how this shapes collaborative work. They will develop an appreciation for and skills to engage in the interdisciplinary work that engineering entails by examining conceptions of engineering, as well as the humanities and social and their intersections with engineering. Students will integrate these themes in projects that investigate the human stories behind various technologies.
TEP442: Cognitive and Psychological Foundations of Effective Leadership
HSS/CS Elective
This course investigates the cognitive and psychological foundations of effective leadership. Students will explore current theories driving effective leadership practice, including: models of leadership, neurophysiological correlates of leadership, and psychodynamic approaches to leadership. Students will learn and apply skills, including: mental modeling, decision-making, teamwork and self-evaluation techniques. This course is aimed at helping Engineering students to gain practical skills, which will enhance their impact as leaders throughout their careers.
TEP444: The Happy Engineer - Positive Psychology for Engineers
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
Many disciplines have explored happiness - philosophy, anthropology, psychology, sociology, neurobiology, film, art and literature - to name a few. Why not engineering? During the first part of the course, we will play catch-up, examining the scholarly and creative ways that people have attempted to understand what makes for a happy life. Then we turn our attention to our own domain-expertise, applying engineering concepts like: "balance", "flow", "amplitude", "dynamic equilibrium", "momentum" and others, to explore the ways your technical knowledge can contribute to a deep understanding of happiness. This course is designed to challenge you academically as we analyze texts from a variety of disciplines. It is also designed to challenge you personally, to explore happiness as it relates to yourself, your own personal development and your success and fulfillment as an engineer.
TEP445: The Power of Story - Discovering Your Leadership Narrative
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
This course offers an introduction to relational, authentic and transformational leadership theory, by focusing on narrative and the power of storytelling. Students will practice storytelling techniques by: learning about the mechanics of stories; improve their public speaking by engaging in regular storytelling practice; explore their personal history by reflecting on their identities; and develop critical thinking skills regarding the stories (meta-narratives) that surround us; particularly as they relate to engineering problems/ethics. This is a highly experiential course with a focus on reading, discussion, practice and reflection.
TEP447: The Art of Ethical & Equitable Decision Making in Engineering
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
The primary objective of this course is to help engineering students navigate the ambiguous world of engineering ethics and equity using case studies drawn from the careers of Canadian engineers. This course tackles complex ethics and equity challenges by focusing on multiple levels of practice: from design work to organizational practice and governance. By applying a systems lens, students will learn to develop the knowledge and skills needed for short-term and long-term action strategies. In addition to being exposed to a range of ethical theories, the PEO code of ethics, and the legal context of engineering ethics, students enrolled in this course will engage in ethical decision-making on a weekly basis.
TEP448: System Mapping
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
Engineers are taught to think in systems, but often these are limited in scope to the technical realm. Yet, many of today’s “wicked problems” are as much dictated by social and environmental considerations as by any technical considerations. System mapping is a system thinking tool frequently used in fields such as public health and environmental policy to describe complex, multi-stakeholder problems. Students will apply system mapping techniques to describe complex problems with technical, social and environmental aspects. Students will explore fields outside of engineering critical to these challenges, including: public policy, sociology, and law. Students will complete a team project to develop a system map of a complex problem. The emphasis will be on problem definition, not problem solution, though it is expected maps will point to potential paths for solution.
TEP449: Intercultural Communication and Leadership
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Elective
A highly experiential but theoretically grounded exploration of intercultural communication developments and practices. The focus on intercultural communication will be applied to the practice of leadership in the many intercultural contexts students engage in as students and as junior engineers. Students will deepen their understanding of culture and leadership through developing a nuanced understanding of culture and cultural practices beyond national, linguistic and ethnic boundaries. Concepts of cultural sensitivity, cultural competence and cultural humility will be related to models of leadership (authentic, collaborative, transformational, and ethical) to enable students to increase their cultural sensitivity, and humility beyond the classroom, in both multi- and intercultural contexts.