Engineering education: an integrated problem-solving framework for discipline-specific professional development in mining engineering
people’s needs for commodities and services. This is done through mining (mineral extraction) and beneficiation to produce endproducts in sustainable ways that contribute to economic development and the provision of services to society. Mining engineering involves the application of the relevant knowledge and understanding of mathematical and natural sciences, and a body of mining engineering knowledge, technology, and methodologies. Mining engineering furthermore aims to deliver solutions, the effects of which can be projected even in mostly uncertain contexts. Streamlining mining engineering education therefore requires mastering of the necessary knowledge, and the teaching and learning of skills in ill-structured, non-routine, real-world problem-solving contexts (Jonassen, Strobel, and Lee, 2006). In the mining environment, these problems vary from well-structured repair-type problems (including repair and replacement of faulty equipment), to semiand entirely ill-structured problems. The latter can include the upgrading of safety infrastructure, optimizing the application and use of existing mining and mining-related equipment, processes, systems and procedures, as well as the design of innovative tools and systems to operate effectively and adapt to changing physical mining conditions. In all of this, occupational health and safety (OH&S)-related hazards and risks need to be considered and addressed so as to ensure a safe, healthy, productive, and profitable working environment. The certified level of engineering education outcome and level of experience of the mining engineering practitioner (ECSA, 2015) together determine the nature and complexity of the problems a particular practitioner might be entrusted to solve. For this reason, when mining engineering learners at the University of Pretoria (UP) embark on their final year real-world mining projects, they are usually given relatively well-structured problems to solve. This, however, does not preclude introducing them to semiand ill-structured problems as part of a larger research project or team effort. Establishing a sound problemsolving development process will serve them well in dealing with the semiand illstructured problems that they will encounter in their future careers. One of the reasons for the difficulties in mining engineering education is that the mining environment is complex. Complexity Engineering education: an integrated problem-solving framework for discipline-specific professional development in mining engineering