The terms control/computer systems, production systems, organizations, macro-and microscopic biological entities and human activities at the individual and group level in society refer to areas concerned with action through purposive systems. The action is aimed at specified changes of properties of some user by means of a product. Engineering as a discipline is preoccupied with such changes and, as such, involves the activities of control/computer and production systems and organizations. Purposive activity is seen as an agent capable of integrating the diverse topics into a coherent scheme. The evolution of change leading to change in the context of the user/receiver-product-purposive system chain is described. The basic notions of a system theory based on linguistic modelling capable of dealing with the propagation of qualitative properties towards an outcome are outlined. The contents and methods of current engineering courses are briefly reviewed. The method of construction of novel kinds of engineering courses is suggested, together with an outline scheme for one such course.