Systems thinking in practice: mapping complexity

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Lane ◽  
Martin Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Systemic Thinking ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Key Concepts

This chapter provides an overview of systems thinking in practice, the key concepts involved in it, and in particular the role of mapping in addressing complex situations. While the chapter touches on all four themes of the book, it focuses mainly on the systems thinking philosophy that underpins the work of nearly all the authors in this book; how that philosophy relates to the use of diagramming to capture systemic thinking; and how to engage research participants in trying to think more systemically. It concludes finishes with some more practical advice on the use of diagrams in general and within participatory and action-oriented modes of research in particular.

Digital Education Strategy

2022 ◽  
pp. 315-356
Keyword(s):  
Digital Humanities ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Virtual Classroom ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
Systemic Thinking ◽  
Digital Education ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Education Strategy

This chapter analyzes and discusses key strategies for digital education. The chapter begins by examining and defining several key concepts, including global citizenship, digital citizenship, computational thinking, informational thinking, and systemic thinking. Next, the chapter analyzes the role of leadership in the age of digitalization and advocates for panoramic leadership. The chapter then discusses strategies and tools for teaching the digital humanities and compares STEM-based education with STEAM-based education. The virtual classroom is then analyzed, followed by a discussion of why Finnish schools excel in digital education. The chapter concludes by analyzing and discussing the architecture for digital schools and universities.

Vocational Development in Emerging Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Pratt ◽  
M. Kyle Matsuba
Keyword(s):  
Turning Point ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Vocational Development ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Concepts

Chapter 6 reviews research on the topic of vocational/occupational development in relation to the McAdams and Pals tripartite personality framework of traits, goals, and life stories. Distinctions between types of motivations for the work role (as a job, career, or calling) are particularly highlighted. The authors then turn to research from the Futures Study on work motivations and their links to personality traits, identity, generativity, and the life story, drawing on analyses and quotes from the data set. To illustrate the key concepts from this vocation chapter, the authors end with a case study on Charles Darwin’s pivotal turning point, his round-the-world voyage as naturalist for the HMS Beagle. Darwin was an emerging adult in his 20s at the time, and we highlight the role of this journey as a turning point in his adult vocational development.

Mapping farmer perceptions, Conservation Agriculture practices and on-farm measurements: The role of systems thinking in the process of adoption

2021 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 103171
Author(s):  
Baqir Lalani ◽  
Payam Aminpour ◽  
Steven Gray ◽  
Meredith Williams ◽  
Lucie Büchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Farmer Perceptions ◽  
On Farm

scholarly journals Research participants as collaborators: Background, experience and policies from the PREVENT Dementia and EPAD programmes

Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1045-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Gregory ◽  
Katie Wells ◽  
Kate Forsyth ◽  
Cate Latto ◽  
Helen Szyra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Involvement ◽  
Research Participant ◽  
Steering Committee ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Prospective Cohort Studies ◽  
Participant Experience ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Public And Patient Involvement

Aim Despite the growing importance of public and patient involvement in biomedical research, comparatively little attention has been paid to the important role of research participants themselves. Our aim in this paper is to explore the impact research participant involvement has within the PREVENT and the European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia (EPAD) projects. Method In this paper, we report the experiences of involving research participants as collaborators in prospective cohort studies exploring early changes in the brain as pathways towards and risks for dementia. We use minutes and feedback from members of the panel and steering committee to understand the experience and impact on the study. Results We describe the aims and structure of the participant panel established within the PREVENT Dementia study and highlight its contributions to the organisation, conduct and future of the study. Key areas of contribution identified include recruitment, inclusion of additional sub-studies, understanding the participant experience and contributing to the future of the study. Discussion We then describe how the PREVENT Dementia panel forms the basis for participant involvement within EPAD project.

scholarly journals Integrating Systems Thinking and Storytelling

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Ollove ◽  
Diala Lteif
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Wicked Problem ◽  
Collective Narrative

This paper explores the role of design in conflict resolution when doing so means balancing burdened pasts with present uncertainties. To prove its relevance in today’s complex problem spaces, design cannot remain stagnant; it must evolve alongside the pace of development. Designing within complexity is unprecedented. Yet, design can define structures that guide an understanding of this complexity. The methodology and case study described in this paper explore how systems thinking, storytelling and grounded theory can contribute to this understanding. The methodology aims to combine subjective perspectives with systemic analyses to create a collective narrative that reveals the multitude of individual understandings of conflicts. Ultimately, this methodology does not attempt to resolve conflict; instead, it  aims to provide an in-depth diagnosis of a wicked problem and question the role of design therein.

School principals’ systems thinking: antecedents and consequences

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Benoliel ◽  
Haim Shaked ◽  
Nechama Nadav ◽  
Chen Schechter
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Leadership Framework ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

PurposeToday’s educational complexities require principals to adopt a more systemic perspective toward school management. Although research has emphasized the benefits associated with the holistic perspective of systems thinking, research in the educational field has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of principals’ systems thinking (PST) in the relationships between instructional leadership (IL) and subject coordinators’ organizational commitment and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by surveying a sample of 226 subject coordinators from different elementary schools randomly chosen in Israel. Subject coordinators completed questionnaires on their PST competencies, their principals’ IL, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results confirmed the main hypotheses: PST did facilitate subject coordinators’ organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Findings also showed that PST mediated the relationship between IL and subject coordinators’ organizational commitment and job satisfaction.Originality/valueBy integrating research from both educational and non-educational literature, this study contributes to deepen our understanding regarding the antecedents and consequences of the PST as perceived by their subject coordinators, providing a broader leadership framework on their functions in today’s complex school systems.

scholarly journals “Practicing care in qualitative organizational research: moral responsibility and legitimacy in a study of immigration management”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Okkonen ◽  
Tuomo Takala ◽  
Emma Bell
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Reception Centre ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Practice Care ◽  
Immigration Management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the reciprocal relations between the caregiving imparted by immigration centre managers and the role of the researcher in responding to the care that is given by managerial caregivers. To enable this, we draw on a feminist theory of care ethics that considers individuals as relationally interdependent.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis draws on a semi-structured interview study involving 20 Finnish immigration reception centre managers.FindingsInsight is generated by reflecting on moments of care that arise between research participants and the researcher in a study of immigration centre management. We emphasise the importance of mature care, receptivity and engrossment in building caring relationships with research participants by acknowledging the care they give to others. Our findings draw attention to the moral and epistemological responsibility to practice care in organizational research.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the relationality between practicing care in immigration centre management and doing qualitative organizational research, both of which rely on mature care, receptivity and engrossment in order to meet the other morally. We draw attention to the moral responsibility to care which characterises researcher–researched relationships and emphasise the importance of challenging methodological discourses that problematise or dismiss care in qualitative organizational research.

scholarly journals On the nature and role of Consciousness: is it time to move towards a metaphilosophical and metascientific approach?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
ENRICO FACCO ◽  
Fabio Fracas ◽  
Silvano Tagliagambe ◽  
Patrizio Tressoldi
Keyword(s):  
Anthropic Principle ◽  
First Person ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Person Perspective ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The Common ◽  
First Person Perspective ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Common Field

The main aim of this paper is to support a metaphilosophical and metascientific approach to the study of Consciousness.After a brief historical resume of the debate between the mind-brain-body relationship, we discuss how the apparently irreducible contention between a physicalist and an anti-physicalist interpretation of Consciousness can be overcome by a metaphilosophic and metascientific approach in the attempt to overcome ethnocentric cultural filters and constraints yielded by the Weltanschauung and the Zeitgeist one belongs to. IN fact, a metaphilosophical perspective can help to recognize key concepts and meanings common to different philosophies beyond their formal differences and different modes of theorization, where the common field of reflection is aimed to find the problem’s unity in the multiplicity of forms. Likewise, the metascientific approach, such as the anthropic principle adopted in astrophysics, helps overcoming the problems of indecidability of single axiomatic disciplines.A metaphilosophical and metascientific approach seems appropriate in the study of consciousness and subjective phenomena, since the first-person perspective and the meaning of the experience are the condition sine qua non for their proper understanding.

scholarly journals Intention in Intervention: A Philosophical, Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jorge Velez-Castiblanco
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Management Science ◽  
User Intention ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Modelling Approaches

<p>This thesis seeks to explore the role of agent or 'user' intention in the fields of Management Science and Systems Thinking. Primarily through the use of various modelling approaches these fields seek to provide assistance to organisational stakeholders who are looking to intervene in situations with a view to dealing with problems and/or bringing about some form of 'improvement'. Although the literature acknowledges that the various methodologies, techniques and tools of MS/ST can be used flexibly depending upon user intention, to date, intention itself has not been the subject of detailed investigation. The thesis seeks to plug this gap in the literature. In exploring intention in some detail the thesis interlinks philosophy, theory and empirical work. The philosophical and theoretical components allow us to conceptualise intention and better understand how it might work in concrete settings. The empirical component, conducted with a team of action researchers, grounds the discussion in practice. The main proposition of the thesis is that intention is a dual-sided phenomenon, i.e. "we do things intentionally, and we intend to do things" (Bratman, 1997). Thus intention has a present and a future side. The research reported on through the thesis shows how, through language and actions, both sides of intention can significantly shape the nature of interventions. This being the case, the value of the work is that it provides new ways of accounting for and learning from interventions; in particular, it provides new frameworks for practitioners to better reflect on and guide their actions.</p>

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