Systems Thinking Why Pierce College should introduce students to this way of analyzing their world

Courses and Development Team Phil 130 Introduction to Systems Thinking Phil 131 Integrated Systems Thinking Developed by: Emily Kulbacki (Philosophy) Kristin Brunnemer (English) Laurie Shuster (Library) Ron May (Biology) Pete Kaslik (Math)

What is a System? “A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something” Examples: Circulatory System Educational System Government Environmental Systems

History Systems Thinking was developed in the 1960s by the MIT System Dynamics group, which included Jay Forrester, the group’s founder.

A different Understanding Systems Thinking can be summarized with a Sufi teaching story: You think that because you understand “one” that you must therefore understand “two” because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand “and”.

Reasons for Creating These Courses Critical thinking is enhanced by systems thinking. There is a distinct lack of systems thinking in the current political debates in this country. The courses are 2 or 3 credits, which is needed at this school.

Qualitative Aspects of Systems Thinking Characteristics of Systems Resilience Self-organization Hierarchy

Qualitative Aspects of Systems Thinking Why Systems Surprise Us The world is non-linear but our models are normally linear Limiting factors – no system can grow forever. Systems always have at least one factor that limits its growth. This factor can change over time. Delays in systems Bounded Rationality – people make reasonable decisions based on the information they have, but they don’t have perfect information, especially about more distant parts of the system.

Qualitative Aspects of Systems Thinking System Traps and opportunities Policy Resistance – Fixes that fail Tragedy of the Commons Drift to low performance Escalation-Success to the successful Shifting the Burden to the Intervenor

Qualitative Aspects of Systems Thinking Leverage Points – Places to Intervene in a system

Quantitative Aspects Version 2a Learning Systems Thinking from a student perspective

Quantitative Aspects Version 2b Systems Thinking Endorsement from a program perspective