Class session 2

This is part of a 1 week course entitled Socio-technical systems, which I delivered to students studying for an EngD (Engineering Doctorate) in Large-Scale Complex IT Systems. There are 6 lectures in this part of the course plus 6 related activities based around work by students and case study discussions.

All times are approximate

To prepare for this course, some background reading is essential. The assessment for this part of the course will be based on a further set of readings on socio-technical systems engineering.

You may also find information in the LSCITS Socio-technical Systems Engineering Handbook to be useful background reading. Especially for the coursework.

Day 3 (Wednesday 18th May)

0930-1030: Lecture 1: LSCITS and socio-technical systems (Recap)

A recap of why socio-technical systems are important and a general introduction to the course

10.30-1045: Break

10.45-12.00: Presentations from students on set reading (10 minutes each). The assigned readings have been distributed by email. Times allow for some discussion.

10.45: Mick Warren. The story of socio-technical design: reflections in its successes, failures and potential.

10. 58 Alex Fargus. Socio-technical Systems: From design methods to systems engineering'

11.10 Matt Hudson. Sociologists can be Surprisingly Useful in Interactive Systems Design

11.22 Paul Taylor. ‘Ethnographically-informed systems design for air traffic control’

11.23 Jon Crookes . Normal Accidents: learning how to learn about safety

11.40 Will Lunniss. Beyond Normal Accidents and High-Reliability Organizations: The Need for an Alternative Approach to Safety in Complex Systems

1200-1300: Lunch

13.00-1400: Lecture 2: Cooperative work, processes and work-arounds

Work as a cooperative, situated activity, process diversity, coping with problems, etc.

1400-1500: Coping with failures (Video + discussion)

If you are unfamiliar with what happened in the Apollo 13 moon mission in 1970, you should read the Wikipedia article on Apollo 13. However, if you have seen the film and have a general idea of what happened, then that's all you need.

1500-1510: Break

1510-1610: Lecture 3: Research methods

Overview of research methods with a focus on case studies and ethnomethodological ethnography. Little bit on action research.

1610-16.20: Break

16.20-17.30: Presentations from students on cooperative work (10 minutes each+discussion)

Day 4 (Thursday 19th May)

0900-1000: Lecture 4: Human error and systems design

Reason's Swiss Cheese model; Error classification. Skill-based and knowledge-based errors; Vulnerabilities and barriers.

1000-1015: Break

1015-11.15: Human error - the Kegworth accident (Video + discussion)

11.15-12.15: Lecture 5: Safety in Organisations

Normal accident theory; High-reliability organizations; Organizational failure

12.15-1315: Lunch

1315-1415: Activity 5: Case study discussion - Reducing Business Travel by 90%.

1415-1430: Break

1430-1530: Lecture 6: Socio-technical systems engineering

Putting this all together - how can we use socio-technical approaches, in general, in the engineering of complex systems.

1530-1600: Coursework discussion

1600: End of session