Global engineering projects often fail because they do not account for how and why people change their behaviours and habits. Understanding and changing habits can improve health and wellbeing globally and locally (e.g., preventing bullying, increasing handwashing, ending open defecation). Similarly, creating habits can cause technologies to scale rapidly and profitably (e.g., smart phones, fidget spinners).

To understand how and why humans change their habits and/or behaviour, this course draws on theories from health sciences, social sciences, and behavioural economics. Case studies will focus primarily on successful and unsuccessful examples of behavior change projects in the international development sector. Case study and theory readings will form the foundation for weekly seminar discussions.

In a hands-on, independent design project, students will learn how hard changing habits can be when they try to change one of their own habits and build a sensor to measure if their habit changes. This course will leave students with a deepened understanding of how hard it can be to change humans’ habits and of the promise and limitations of sensors and technology in global engineering and health.