Subject: Ways of understanding a dynamic system

Posted by Linda Booth Sweeney on 5/11/2004
In Reply To:Ways of understanding a dynamic system Posted by Lees Stuntz on 5/10/2004

Message:

Dear Lees,

My doctoral thesis (now complete!) looks at middle-school students' and their teachers' conceptions of natural and social systems. Using a post-test only design, I provide preliminary descriptions of participants' "intuitive models" of targeted system dynamics and their use of homological reasoning (i.e., recognition and application of deep, structural patterns in distinct domains). During one-on-one, semi-structured interviews, participants (29 students and 12 teachers) were asked to reason through: (a) six natural/social system "dilemmas," ranging from simple predator/ prey relationships to impact of road building programs; (b) six questions designed to surface homological reasoning; (c) three questions to probe participants' ability to differentiate between types of feedback patterns; and, (d) two questions related to systemic policy analysis. All seventeen probes were designed to surface participants' intuitive models of causal feedback, nonlinear behaviors and structures, time horizons/time delays and stock and flow structures. A coding guide was developed and student and teacher answers are coded according to a five-stage progression.

The thesis will be available through UMI soon. I'd be happy to walk through the coding/scoring process with the person who inquired about possible hierarchies of understanding dynamic systems.

my best,
Linda