This document discusses teaching systems thinking concepts to K-12 students. It defines systems thinking as viewing problems as interconnected parts of a whole system rather than isolated events, and emphasizes modeling systems and their dynamics over time. Examples are given of education and supermarket systems. The document recommends using modeling software and "roadmaps" to develop students' understanding of feedback loops, stocks and flows. The goal is to create "systems citizens" who can analyze complex problems systemically.

1. Thinking About Teaching Systems Thinking with Technology
Craig A. Cunningham, National Louis University, Chicago

2. Agenda Introduction What is systems thinking? Some general concepts Examples of systems thinking How is systems thinking acquired? Examples of pK-12 educational projects Wrap-up and conclusion

3. Some quotations "... systems thinking is based on the fundamental shift of perception from the world as a machine to the world as a living system." --Fritjof Capra “We are all tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. This is the way God's universe is made, this is the way it is structured.” -Martin Luther King Jr. A Christmas Sermon of Peace, in The Trumpet of Conscience, 1967. "All the important problems we face are systemic problems: the survival of the planet's ecology, world peace, the elimination of hunger and disease, the education of youth, and social justice--just to name a few. Over the past several decades the systemic nature of these complex problems has gradually entered the public's consciousness. Complex problems are systemic, complex problems are counterintuitive, systemic problems are everywhere, systemic problems are messy problems." Larry Hutchins, 1995 (Systemic Thinking: Solving Complex Problems)

4. Quotations, continued Faced with the new realties, our systems have to transform----as society has transformed. …it is imperative that we understand what these transformations and new realities are. We have to grasp their implicates for our systems, and apply our understanding of these implications to the transformation of our systems. - Bela Banathy (pioneer of thinking about social systems as systems) The general claim of evolutionary systems theory is that there have now been discovered basic regularities, patterns or laws, that apply in broad fashion to all three great realms of evolution, the physical, biological and social spheres and that a unity of science --a coherent and unified world view--is now possible. These general systems theories claim in other words that "everything is connected to everything else"-- the web of life as a scientific and not just religious conclusion as it had been in period prior to the Rational Scientific paradigm. (Wilbur, 1996)

5. Quotations, cont. Peter Senge, in The Fifth Discipline: "Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static “snapshots.” It is a set of general principles — distilled over the course of the twentieth century, spanning fields as diverse as the physical and social sciences, engineering, and management....During the last thirty years, these tools have been applied to understand a wide range of corporate, urban, regional, economic, political, ecological, and even psychological systems. And systems thinking is a sensibility — for the subtle interconnectedness that gives living systems their unique character. http://www.systemsthinker.com/interests/systemsthinking/ " we need to end the travesty of the educator that is removed from context. Real life experiences, and therefore knowledge, do not come chopped up in discrete subjects but are invariably interdisciplinary. " (Hutchins, 1996) The 21st Century Skills Framework includes this goal: “Analyze how parts of a whole interact with each other to produce overall outcomes in complex systems“

6. What is systems thinking? A "system is a configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships". http://www.hent.org/world/rss/files/systems_think.htm A system is an entity which maintains its existence through the mutual interaction of its parts. http://www.systems-thinking.org/index.htm Also known as "dynamic complexity modeling"...close relationship to modeling and simulations Center for Ecoliteracy shifts in thinking (http://www.ecoliteracy.org/nature-our-teacher/systems-thinking): From objects to relationships From parts to the whole From objective knowledge to contextual knowledge From quantity to quality From structure to process From contents to patterns

8. What is... Continued Systematic thinking refers to approaches that are repeatable and use data and information so that improvement and learning are possible. https://ccip.ode.state.oh.us/DocumentLibrary/ViewDocument.aspx Systems thinking is the process of predicting, on the basis of anything at all, how something influences another thing. It has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to present outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of the undesired issue or problem. Systems thinking is a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking's focus is on effect, not cause. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking#The_concept_of_a_system

9. Some basic concepts A system is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as a structured functional unit; energy, material and information flow among the different elements that compose the system; a system is a community situated within an environment energy, material and information flow from and to the surrounding environment via semi-permeable membranes or boundaries; systems are often composed of entities seeking equilibrium (through self- regulation, perhaps) but can exhibit oscillating, chaotic, or exponential behavior.
(adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking)

10. More basic concepts Systems have inputs, outputs, processes, and parameters Systems usually involve some entropy or disorder Feedback loops within the system regulate it (or lead it out of control) There is a hierarchy of subsystems within any system Convergence (different processes/same outputs) and divergence (same processes/different outputs) (due to randomness or unknown factors)

11. Examples of systems thinking The Gaia Hypothesis (James Lovelock) "proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis Predicting the Behavior of Education Systems (Thomas Green) (for example: the value of a certain degree (high school, college, grad, Ph.D.) depends on what percentage of job pool has that; the person who is LAST to get a degree gets no benefit)

12. More examples
A supermarket can be seen as any of the following kinds of systems, depending on the perspective: a "profit making system" … from the perspective of management and owners a "distribution system“… from the perspective of the suppliers an "employment system“… from the perspective of employees a "materials supply system“… from the perspective of customers an "entertainment system“… from the perspective of loiterers a "social system" …from the perspective of local residents a "dating system" …from the perspective of single customers

13. More examples? (from audience)

14. How is systems thinking acquired? Creative Learning Exchange: “To develop Systems Citizens in K-12 education who use systems thinking, system dynamics, and an active, learner-centered approach to meet the interconnected challenges that face them at personal, community, and global levels” Roadmaps: “Road Maps can be a resource for both beginners and advanced system dynamics modelers, and requires no previous system dynamics knowledge and only basic math skills.” http://www.clexchange.org/curriculum/roadmaps.asp CLE offers correlation tables to various sets of standards (http://www.clexchange.org/curriculum/standards/commoncore.asp)

15. http://www.clexchange.org/curriculum/standards/stem.asp

16. How is systems thinking acquired? continued Center for Interdisciplinary Excellence in System Dynamics offers a 5-Course Graduate Certificate in System Dynamics for Educators The “ladder of engagement”: Knowledge: what do we know about the behavior of the system? Understanding: what drives the behavior of the system Influence: How can we design and evaluate policies to better manage the system?

17. Basic principles for systems pedagogy Basic Principles (from Barry Richmond, http://www.clexchange.org/ftp/conference/cle_2002/Richmond%20keynote.pdf): Systems can be studied as part of subject-specific curricula (through “dynamic modeling” of topic of study) OR as an interdisciplinary subject focused on general approaches to systems Systems are seen by students as authentic and engaging Systems lend themselves to discovery approaches The building of models and simulations is key to understanding the components of systems

18. “Word and arrow” diagrams:
Behavior over time graphs:

19. More on pedagogy Types of thinking related to systems thinking: 10,000 Meters Thinking (big picture) System as Cause Thinking Dynamic Thinking Operational Thinking (distinguishing between “stocks” and “flows”) Closed-loop Thinking (same cycle over and over) Continuum Thinking Nonlinear Thinking Quantitative Thinking Scientific Thinking Behavior over time graphs (BOTGs) One goal of teaching systems thinking is to create “systems citizens” who understand the mutuality of all things and are expanding their sense of self, increasing empathy and respect, learning to listen to different perspectives, and committed to solving systemic problems that face the global community.

20. “To appreciate the nature of systems, students must have extensive personal experience in working with systems. This means creating system dynamics models on a computer, simulating their behavior, exploring how the models respond to changes in structure and policies, and comparing model behavior to the real systems being represented. Such active modeling should extend at least throughout the several years of middle school and high school. As early as possible, schools should move away from canned models that have been previously prepared for student use. Instead, students should create models, examine their shortcomings, and learn from discovering improvements.” - Jay W. Forrester http://www.clexchange.org/ftp/documents/whyk12sd/Y_2009-02LearningThroughSD.pdf

21. Systems thinking is related to “habits of mind” Cp: Costa and Kallick’s Discovering and Exploring Habits of Mind "Persistence: persevering when the solution to a problem is not readily apparent“ "Managing impulsivity: effective problem solving requires a sense of deliberativeness and thinking before acting.“ "Listening to others with understanding and empathy: learning to do this requires holding in abeyance values, judgments, opinions, and prejudices in order to listen to and entertain another person's thoughts“ "Flexibility in thinking: capacity to change one's mind as additional data is received“ "Metacognition: awareness of our own thinking“ "Checking for accuracy and precision“ "Questioning and problem posing: effective problem solvers know how to ask questions to fill in the gaps between what they know and what they don"t know" "Drawing on past knowledge and applying it to new and novel situations“ "Precision of language and thought“ "Using all the senses“ "Ingenuity, originality, insightfulness: creativity“ "Wonderment, inquisitiveness, curiosity, and the enjoyment of problem solving“ "Responsible risk taking“ "Displaying a sense of humor: people who engage in the mystery of humor have the ability to perceive situations from an original and often interesting vantage point.“ "Thinking interdependently“ "The humility of continuous learning"

22. Use of technology to teach and support systems thinking SimCity http://simcity.ea.com/play/classic/index.html The Death Clock http://www.deathclock.com/ Pandemic http://pandemic3.com/ Stella (http://www.iseesystems.com/) 50 great examples of data visualization: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/50-great- examples-of-data-visualization/ (lots of examples for using Stella available: http://www.iseesystems.com/community/downloads/EducationDownloads.aspx) Online examples, too: for example: http://forio.com/simulate/simulation/netsim/h1n1/# http://forio.com/simulate/simulation/netsim/virtual-hamlet/

23. Examples of pK-12 educational projects http://www.watersfoundation.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=stdm.classinstruction Systems Thinking Playbook http://www.lindaboothsweeney.net/resources Systems thinking Handbook http://livebinders.com/play/play/127669 Webinar about teacing systems dynamics to high schoolers: http://www.iseesystems.com/community/ WebSeminars/ModelingDynamicSystems.aspx

24. More examples, pk-12 Modeling and Simulation Tools for Elementary and Middle School Science Instruction Elementary/middle school simulation/modeling software: http://www.stagecast.com/ Model of a flower garden (grades 3-8): http://www.stagecast.com/clients/flowergarden3.html More sims for younger students: http://www.stagecast.com/cgi- bin/templator.cgi?PAGE=School/LESSONWORLDS Video testimony from middle-school teacher: http://www.stagecast.com/school.html Lesson plan matrix: http://www.stagecast.com/cgi-bin/templator.cgi?PAGE=School/MATRIX Science modeling/data representation resources from Christina Schwartz's syllabus for science in elementary school http://wise.berkeley.edu/ http://cases.soe.umich.edu/ http://www.biokids.umich.edu/ http://caseit.uwrf.edu/ http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/ http://www.globe.gov/ Rich Lehrer's publications on data modeling in schools: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x4904.xml?show=SelectedPublications#faculty Thinking with Data: A Cross-Curricular Approach to Data Literacy: http://www.rcet.org/twd/index.html (unit on world-water crisis for both teachers and students)

25. Other Examples? Lots of discussion/examples in syllabus for TIE 512: http://craigcunningham.com/nlu/tie512win10/

26. Wrap-up and conclusion Well-developed systems thinking curricula exist at the high school, college, and adult education levels Systems thinking is not taught systematically in pk- 12 settings What’s needed is more attention to modeling and use of simulations across the curriculum Would love to hear from anyone with additional ideas: craig.cunningham@nl.edu