Express knowledge and understanding
Students gain knowledge about the System Dynamics method and its relation to standard science, operations research, and public and private management. They also get to know the basics of dynamics systems (systems consisting of instantaneous and accumulating cause and effect relationships, feedback loops, nonlinearities, and delays) and the use of causal loop diagrams, stock and flow diagrams, graph functions, and equations to represent and illustrate cause-and-effect relationships. And, they obtain knowledge about different ways to analyze and understand development over time (graphical integration, structure diagrams, and simulation) as well as about misperceptions and simplified rules of thumb that people use to manage complex dynamic systems.
Apply knowledge and understanding
To practice the new knowledge is very important and the course offers several types of training. The reading material is presented in a MOOC where students are challenged while reading, in quizzes, and in interactive learning environments. Class sessions make use of the flipped classroom format where students answer questions, discuss with each other and engage with the instructor. There are four mandatory assignments, with guidance by the student assistant before the deadlines and debriefings after the deadlines. Students also learn to apply analogies to understand several important social challenges, where the most familiar situations serve as analogies for less transparent problems.
Make judgements
Students develop systems thinking skills and an intuitive understanding of the scientific method. This changes the perspective the students have on how problems develop and on how problems can be reduced. It also makes the students more deeply interested in analysis, and a high fraction of the master students end up in academia, in consulting, or in large organizations that set aside time for formal analysis.
Communicate
The diagramming techniques that the students learn can be seen as tools for effective communication at an intermediate level between imprecise narratives and complex mathematical equations. Students learn a short recipe, P'HAPI, for project design and for effective reporting from projects. Students practice their skills both in classroom discussions and in assignments.
Develop learning skills
After finishing the course, students typically have a new and different view on how dynamic social systems work. This encourages them to ask new questions such as: what are the important stocks and feedback loops, is behaviour created endogenously or is it caused by external influences, do data represent causal relationships or correlations, will the system counteract proposed policies etc. Once these questions are asked, they motivate learning.
Department of Geography
advice.systdyn@uib.no
http://www.uib.no/rg/dynamics