Designing Sustainable Systems

C&I 675

We live in times of unprecedented sociological, technical, and social change. Global economic, environmental, and educational systems are undergoing radical transformation, catalyzed by technological innovation. Knowledge making and sharing systems — such as schools and universities — have remained relatively inert in light of this changing macro-context, but recent innovations, such as MOOCs and Khan Academy threaten the patterns of established educational institutions. It is crucial that this generation of educators (researchers, teachers, and administrators) understand these trends and be prepared for this changing world.

Environmental systems, which situate human systems (and which are constituted by human systems), are also undergoing rapid changes, as evidenced by global warming and climate change. Climate changes both reflect underlying chemical changes on Earth, but also create further changes in global systems, such as the changes produced by global warming and climate changes (i.e. ecosystem collapse and population extinctions). The interacting changes between humans and the environment are so substantial as to threaten human existence itself, which creates an existential problem for educators.

This course will investigate the issue of designing for sustainability using systems thinking concepts. As a group, we will tackle the question: How should a cutting-edge undergraduate course on systems thinking and sustainability look if launched in 2018? How should a large introductory science course be organized in an age of MOOCs and iPhones? What does learning sciences research have to say about how students learn systems thinking? How and when should these ideas be taught in the syllabus?

It is expected that you bring your own interests to these issues, and the course will be, as much as possible, interest-driven. It is expected that you will leave the course fluent in systems thinking concepts and aware of key issues facing higher education.

The course as a whole will investigate the dual problems of designing sustainable environmental and educational systems by designing an undergraduate course on environmental sustainability and systems thinking. Participants will leave the course with: (1) A better understanding of the issues and challenges facing higher education, particularly in regards to technological change, (2) a better understanding of issues in environmental sustainability, (3) an understanding of systems theory, and how it applies to these two issues. More tangibly, students will leave the course with working syllabi that they can use in their own teaching moving forward.

The course that we will redesign is tentatively titled “UW 100: Introduction to Systems,” an intro-level course on systems thinking. We will work with Molly Jahn and Cathy Middlecamp, who are currently teaching a special course to UW first year students. Molly and Cathy’s course will design activities, while we design an overarching syllabus. Class assignments will feed into this process; presentations will provide reviews and fodder for the syllabus, while final projects will be designing a course in your own domain.

The course will provide grounding in the history of systems theory and dominant approaches to understanding complex systems, with an emphasis toward education. As such, we will constantly shift from studying systems as a phenomenon (and studying how we study systems) to studying educational systems and thinking about how we might best communicate these ideas to students. We will use “The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision” as the common textbook. It is expected that you will enter the course with your own interests, expertise, and skills, and assignments are open to being modified to reflect that.

Schedule

9/6 Answers that Lie in the Sysems & Introduction to Systems

• Heisenberg Activity (Cathy)
• Videos: Systems Explorer, weeks 1 & 2
• Reading: Van Bertanffly
• Klieber’s Law
• AG: Answer in questions

9/13- Systems Theory (co-teach)

• Capra & Luisi, Units 1&2
• AG: Pick chapters

9/20 Systems Thinking in Biological Sciences

• Capra & Luisi, Chapters 7–9
• AG: Activity
• Introduce relationship to UW 100

9/27- Systems Thinking and Scientific Discovery

• Capra & Luisi, chapters 10–14

10/4 — Systems Thinking Across Science

• Capra & Luisi, chapters 15–19

10/11 — Systems Thinking in Education

• Resnick
• New England Institute http://www.necsi.edu/events/cxedk16/cxedk16_2.html
• Burns & Knox
• Northwestern Group: Science Article

10/18 — Learning Sciences & Systems Thinking

• Resnick
• Jacobson & Wilensky
• Raia

10/25 — Technology & Higher Education

• MOOCs,
• Squire article

11/1 — Assessing Systems Thinking

• Van Bilsen
• DeVane & Squire

11/8 Resnick & Wilensky

• Klopfer, Yoon & Um
• Yoon & Klopfer

11/15 — ** Present Syllabus

11/22 -

• Wilensky & Reisman
• Yoon
• Penner
• Hmelo, Holton & Kolodner

11/29

12/6

12/13

Assignments

1. Briefing presentation and annotated bibliography. (20%)

on a topic of your choosing. Potential topics could include:

• Systems Thinking: What is it?
• Operationalizing Systems Thinking for Assessment
• Teaching Systems Thinking Through Games
• What do we know about active learning in college classrooms?
• How is technology changing Higher Education?
• What do we know about teaching Systems Thinking?

2. Syllabus in your home domain (30%)

3. Participation in Syllabus, built jointly (30%)

4. Accompanying Rationale & Reflection (20%)

**

UW 100: Introduction to Systems

Recommended Readings

• Sociology
• Capitalism
• Toffler
• Reich
• Senge
• Reading on transportation (that pdf that games sent?)
• Gee anti-education era
• Shirky: Here comes everybody
• Bonk: MOOCS
• Hutchins, L. (1996). Systemic Thinking.