Subject: Bored students: Another try at focusing the discussion

Posted by Richard Turnock on 1/1/2011
In Reply To:Bored students: Another try at focusing the discussion Posted by Jay Forrester on 12/30/2010

Message:

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Very little in the responses to my earlier message has addressed how system dynamics my have a role in moving students from boredom to excitement and a driving desire to learn and investigate.
I hope we can have a focus on boredom as it might be related to system dynamics.
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Project: “Address how system dynamics may have a role in moving students from boredom to excitement and a driving desire to learn and investigate.”

Responding to Dr. Forrester’s project definition can be done in at least two ways. One is to look at the education system and how to include system dynamics in the curriculum then respond to the project definition above.

Another Way

Consistent with Tim Joy’s reference about what Barry Richmond was thinking http://itsallonething.com/2011/01/01/onething15-learning-to-do-something/
Use stocks that “pertain only to the STUDENT – what’s going on inside the student’s mind.” Let’s examine the student’s mental models of “boredom”, “excitement”, and “desire to learn and investigate”. One process to respond to the project definition is to build a simulation of a mental model. A more thorough write up of this would include operational definitions of each stock, flow and parameter in order to measure them in the real world.

Model 1

Inflow is “positive affirmations”
Stock is “self esteem”
Outflow is “self-talk”
Connect stock to outflow

Get the model working, run simulations with test inputs, get to know the model, how it works and why it works.

Where is the highest leverage in the system where you can exert the least force and the get the best results? Teachers and parents repeat positive affirmations to children expecting the child’s self esteem to improve. It works for awhile until the child’s self talk drains the stock to a lower level.

Model 2
Add parameter “target self esteem” and create a goal seeking model where the difference between the stock “self esteem” and the parameter “target self esteem” causes the outflow to increase or decrease so that the stock is seeking the “target self esteem” level.

Get the model working, run simulations with test inputs, get to know the model, how it works and why it works.

Where is the highest leverage in the system where you can exert the least force and the get the best results? Here the child’s target self esteem controls the outcome. So, a parent needs to find a way to get a child to change their target self-esteem.

Model 3
Now let’s change the names.
Inflow is “quality experiences at school”
Stock is “engagement”
Outflow is “self-talk about school”
Connect stock to outflow
Parameter is “target engagement”

Here “engagement” might be defined as the opposite of “boredom”.
Repeat the above processes building more variations on these goal seeking models. Define what each stock, flow and parameter mean in order to measure them. Where is the highest leverage in the system where you can exert the least force and the get the best results? How?


Richard

Follow Ups:

Bored students: Another try at focusing the discussion - Steve Crowley 1/1/2011 
Bored students: Another try at focusing the discussion - Richard Turnock 1/1/2011
Bored students: Another try at focusing the discussion - Pedro D. Almaguer Prado 1/1/2011