Understanding Educational
Systems
Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the
steamroller, you’re part of the road
Stewart Brand
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and
technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that
almost no one understands science and technology. That’s a
clear prescription for disaster
Carl Sagan
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has
exceeded our humanity
Albert Einstein
Systems Thinking
Computational Thinking
Design Thinking
Futures Thinking
Strategic Thinking
Solutions Thinking
Global Warming
Armed Conflicts
Food Scarcity
Clean Water
Ageing Population
Obesity
Overpopulation
Alternative Energy
Education
Health Care
Epidemics
Housing and Shelter
Big Problems
Systems Thinking
Systems Thinking makes it possible to analyse
and understand complex phenomena
Systems Thinking
Instead of isolating smaller and smaller parts of the
system being studied, systems thinking works by
expanding its view to consider larger and larger
numbers of interactions as an issue is being studied
Systems Thinking
Thinking consists of two activities: constructing mental
models and then simulating them in order to draw
conclusions and make decisions
Barry Richmond
Understanding the concept of a tree requires more
information than is available through sensory experience
alone.  It’s built on past experiences and knowledge.
Mental Models
The image of the world around us, which we carry in our
head, is just a model. Nobody in his head imagines all the
world… they have only selected concepts, and relationships
between them, and uses those to represent the real system
Jay Forrester
The problems we have created in the world today will not be
solved by the level of thinking that created them
Albert Einstein
We are limited in our capacity to form and reform mental
models. Systems modelling allows us to move from “what” to
“what if” and make our thinking visible
The basic building blocks of dynamic models are stocks, flows,
and loops
Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful
George Box
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
Students need learn to identify the properties of the
various subsystems they explore, for example of a bicycle,
and examine how they relate to the whole.
Children tend to think of the properties of a system as
belonging to individual parts of it rather than as arising
from the interaction of the parts. A system property that
arises from interaction of parts is therefore a difficult idea.
Students should already know that if something consists
of many parts, the parts usually influence one another.
Also they should be aware that something may not work as
well (or at all) if a part of it is missing, broken, worn out,
mismatched, or misconnected.
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Students can learn about the
choices and constraints that
go into the design of a
bicycle system. Depending
on whether the bicycle is
intended for racing,
mountain roads, or touring,
influences its design and
such choices as the type of
tires, frame and materials,
and drives and gears.
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Subsystems could include:
The Wheel
Drivers & Gears
Frames & Materials
Brakes & Steering
Aerodynamics
Power System
Behaviour (changes)
over time
Weather
Weather
Attendance
Tying Shoes
Experiments
Literature
Tortoise vs the Hare
Identifying Change Over Time in Text
Behaviour over time
Behaviour over time
Behaviour over time
Stocks and Flows
Stocks are the foundation of any system and are the elements that
you can see, feel, count, or measure
Stocks do not have to be physical
Stocks
Reservoirs
Reservoirs
Reservoirs
Money
Air Quality
Air Quality
Air Quality
Animal Populations
Animal Populations
Human Populations
Stock changes over time
Increasing
Decreasing
Oscillating
Stable
Stocks change over time through the actions of a flow
A stock is the present memory of the changing flows within a system
Flow
A feedback loop is formed when changes in a stock affect the flows
into or out of that same stock
Balancing feedback loops are stability seeking and try to keep a
stock at a certain level or within a certain range
Reinforcing feedback loops occur when a system element has the
ability to reproduce itself or grow at a constant fraction of itself
Loops
Marker Pen Scarcity
Population Change
Endangered Animals
Professional Development
Symbols
A converter holds
information or
relationships that
affect the rate of
the flows, or that
affect the content
of another
converter
A connector
indicates that
changes in one
element cause
changes in another
element; only
changes a stock by
going through an
accompanying
flow
A flow represents actions or
processes; transports “stuff”,
concrete or abstract, that
directly adds to or takes away
from accumulation in a stock;
the verbs in the system
A stock represents
an accumulation,
concrete or
abstract, that
increases or
decreases over
time; the nouns in
the system
Feedback Loops
Rumours
Increasing or compounding Reinforcing Feedback
Avalanche
Increasing or compounding Reinforcing Feedback
Epidemics
Increasing or compounding Reinforcing Feedback
World Population
Increasing or compounding Reinforcing Feedback
Soil Fertility
Decreasing or collapsing Reinforcing Feedback
Predator / Prey
Equalising / Oscillating Balancing Feedback
Fire Management
Equalising / Oscillating Balancing Feedback
Growing Plants
Causal Loops
Immunisation
Causal Loops
Friendships
Reinforcing Causal Loops
Types of loops
Balancing Feedback
Connection Circle
Connection Circle
Causal Loop
Connection Circle
Causal Loop
Connection Circle
Causal Loop
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Understanding Educational Systems