Systems Thinking outside classroom

[jforestr@MIT.EDU (Jay W. Forrest]

The following message from the K-12 discussion group may be
of interest to the system dynamics list.

Jay W. Forrester
jforestr@MIT.EDU
------- Forwarded Message

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 10:40:17 -0800
From: dfisher@pps.k12.or.us (Diana M. Fisher)
Subject: Re: Systems THinking outside classroom

To Mr. Gunn and the k-12 SD community,
>
>Does anyone have evidence that kids and teachers in schools where Stella (or
>other system dynamics tools) is used exhibit systems thinking outside of
>classroom problems? In other words, are systems ideas and methods
>internalized by kids and teachers and used to think outside of school?

I have been asked to respond to this message and address it to the entire
listserve, so here goes.

Not only is there evidence, the evidence continues to be so exciting that I
have not lost my enthusiasm for teaching high school students to create
systems models. On the contrary, I believe it should start in the middle
school when students learn first year algebra.

I teach math, programming, and a system dynamics modeling course at
Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon. I have used system dynamics in
my math classes since 1991 and have taught the modeling class since 1992.
The modeling class is a math elective not applicable against the required
credits in math for graduation. In spite of this the course has grown from
11 the first year to 40 students this year.

Students in the modeling course begin by completing exercises that build
their skill in using STELLA, designing simple models, analyzing models they
create via tutorials, and explaining what they understand in all processes.
In the second semester they creat more sophisticated original models for
which they must collect data, work with an expert who understands the
problem they are trying to model, and write a 10 to 12 page technical paper
explaining their model and the results. Students have gone on to teach
college professors what they learned in the class. I have had professors
express admiration for the models the students have designed, some
exclaiming that they have graduate students who could not do as well. One
group of students designed a model of a pronghorn population near central
Oregon, with spreadsheet data faxed to them by a wildlife biologist who had
just modeled the same population. The biologist also faxed the observed
population data and the results of his model. The high school juniors
created a model with less error, compared to the observed data, than the
professional biologists model displayed. Other students have been
requested to create models for administrators and teachers in the school.
The Oregon Land Management Office hired two of my students to do a wetland
model for them one summer. Currently we have two student groups working on
models related to the school funding problems we are having in Oregon,
requested by an administrator in the central district office. I have had a
student tell me that, having taken the modeling class his senior year in
high school helped him (significantly) understand Calculus his freshman
year at Reed College. Another modeling student created a STELLA model for
an economics paper he did in college, only to have the professor grade him
down, claiming he was using the model as a page-filler. The student went
in and explained the model to the professor, who subsequently gave him full
credit for his paper. I have had other modeling students tell teachers at
Franklin that some of their environmental science classes were easier to
understand because of their exposure to some of the complex issues that
arise in environmental management situations.

Our main problem is (lack of) exposure regarding what the students are
doing. Those adults who take the time to see what the students actually
create are, without exception, very impressed by the quality of work, the
thought, the understanding of the complexity of the issues they are
modeling, and the models they create. (Franklin is an inner city high
school serving primarily a blue collar population.) And Franklin High
School is not the only place this is occuring.

Wilson High School in Portland also has a modeling class whose students do
excellent work. One of their students gained early admittance to Harvard
University using a STELLA model he created in the modeling class at Wilson.
Scott Guthrie teaches the modeling class at Wilson. Ron Zaraza, my
partner in our NSF CC-STADUS grant uses STELLA throughout his physics
classes at Wilson as well. Ron has been instrumental in developing systems
study at Wilson. He has brought most of the social studies teachers on
board by teaching lessons in their classes, so they can see how it would be
useful to them. Both of these teachers could offer more examples of
student application of systems ideas outside the classroom.

La Salle High School is also making great strides. They do not have a
modeling class yet but they have been the most successful in getting
systems thinking to permiate multiple departments. The students build or
work with models in English, science, religion, social studies, health, and
math classes. They have made systems a strand in their school and continue
to expand its use. Tim Joy, an English teacher, is the director of this
effort. He could tell you more about student experiences at La Salle.

At Franklin I have used system dynamics via STELLA and the motion detector
in every math class I have taught since 1991. It is such a natural method
for understanding the functions that are traditionally taught in Algebra
through Calculus classes that I cannot understand why math teachers are not
jumping at the chance to use it in their classes. (Of course, I should not
be surprised, since we have found from our summer SD training of high
school math, science, and social science teachers that math teachers are
the most resistant to change. I think this is because our training has
included so little experience with applications. This needs to change!!!)
The use of system dynamics has significantly altered the way I look at the
mathematics I teach and the way I now teach math. I require my students to
create simple models of some of the problems we study during the year. One
year I tried to collect some statistics regarding the use of systems versus
a traditional approach to teaching second year algebra. I collected
information on the number of students who successfully completed the first
year of pre-calculus from my Algebra II classes and those of two other
Algebra II teachers. I know this is statistically flawed, but for what
its worth the difference was a success rate of 78.9% for the systems
students verses a 60.6% success rate for the other students.

The evidence of what students can accomplish via systems studies using
STELLA and other software has promped the Portland Public School District
(the largest in the Pacific Northwest) to allow both Franklin High School
and Wilson High School to offer System Dynamics "Magnet" Programs starting
next year. Franklin will require Systems students to take 4 years of math
and 4 years of science and two system dynamics modeling classes. Each year
students will be reqired to create models that coordinate their current
math and science classes. Wilsons project focuses on science and social
studies. They have created a special "Science, Society, and Technology"
course team-taught by the modeling teacher and a social studies teacher.
Their Systems students will also be required to take 4 years of math and 4
years of science, and the special new SST class they have created.
Franklin and Wilson will share their developing curricula over the next few
years to expand each program.

Additionally Ron Zaraza and I will direct our second NSF grant to train
high school math, science, and social science teachers to create
cross-discipline system models using STELLA for three more years. We are
also working with Portland State University and University of Portland, as
both have become interested in incorporating systems training in their
teacher education programs. (BTW, we have had multiple teachers, trained
in our summer program, requested by organizations such as Bonneville Power
to create systems models for some problem they want to study.) Another
participant, a social studies teacher in Tillamook, Oregon was discussing
the political ramifications of a ballot measure to build a new building in
Tillamook. Three of his students modeled the problem and, much to the
consternation of the principal and some local businessmen, publicized their
findings ultimately defeating the measure. We have had other participants
work with science professionals around the state creating system models.

Our experience with students and teachers has been that we have seen barely
the tip of the iceberg in the growth of system dynamics use in and outside
of education in the Portland area. We have a critical mass of trained
teachers, students, and otherinterested professionals and expect the growth
to continue exponentially.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Diana Fisher

Diana M. Fisher
NSF CC-STADUS Project Director
(Cross Curricular Systems Thinking and Dynamics Using STELLA)
Franklin High School
5405 SE Woodward St.
Portland, OR 97206
(503) 916-5140
dfisher@pps.k12.or.us

"Every explanation should be as simple as possible but no
simpler." (Einstein)