Alternative name to system dynamics

["John S. Edwards"]

Hi everyone,

Ive been a lurker on this list until now, as Im a broad-based
"management science modeller" rather than a system dynamics
specialist.

However, I have a simple suggestion about Eds problem of "what to call it"
for K-12 classes. Ed, as long as what you want to do in these classes is
clearly a subset of system dynamics (defined as you wish), then just
call it system dynamics.
Point out to the students and their teachers that there is more of
the subject; they can study that at university if they want.

After all, no-one has a problem with using the term "mathematics" for
what people study in high school, even though it doesnt include, for
example, partial differential equations or co- and contravariant
tensors.

OK; Ill go back into "hiding" now.

Best wishes,

John E
John S. Edwards
<ABS9117@pcmail.aston.ac.uk>

[gallaher@teleport.com (Ed Gallah]

4/30/96 John Edwards says:
>I have a simple suggestion about Eds problem of "what to call it"
>for K-12 classes. Ed, as long as what you want to do in these classes is
>clearly a subset of system dynamics (defined as you wish), then just
>call it system dynamics.

I believe you are right! In one short message youve cut through a lot of
(interesting) controversy and confusion, and provided the simple solution.

This works for me, unless I hear objections from anyone else.

If fact, your latter comment raises the possibility that if it were not too
distracting, we create a display describing some of the advanced aspects of
SD, as well as some of the real-world applications. This would educate and
illuminate the modeling students as well as the attending audience.

I really do want to restrict the SyM Bowl focus to the basic continuous
stock-and-flow models, because the students still have to learn how to do
all the conceptual steps of good modeling, and this provides quite a
challenge in itself. The judges have a hard enough time sorting these out
when they come from a variety of disciplines, without adding the confusion
(as we are still discussing in this group) of continuous vs. discrete
models, causal loops, etc. etc.

Thanks,


(dont lurk all the time; this was helpful)

ed gallaher
gallaher@teleport.com