scholarly journals An adaptive and strategic human-centred design approach to shaping pandemic design education that promotes wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
Mieke Van der Bijl-Brouwer ◽  
Rebecca Anne Price
Keyword(s):  
Design Education ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Student Wellbeing ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The University ◽  
Staff Experiences ◽  
Human Centred Design ◽  
The Way

Positive student wellbeing is intrinsically connected to positive learning outcomes. Students learn more when they feel well, and the way we shape education influences the way students feel. The COVID-19 crisis has forced us to radically change our design education and is having a large impact on student wellbeing and learning. While some students manage well to adapt to the new circumstances, others struggle and face challenges such as risk of burnout, lack of motivation, and social isolation. In this paper we describe how we approached this challenge by applying methods and principles from strategic human-centred design and systems thinking. The strategic design approach included researching values and patterns in student and staff experiences. The systems approach meant that we saw the university as a complex adaptive system, which focused our activities on connecting staff and students who were and are running multiple creative experiments to promote student wellbeing. This approach is strategic because it supports continuous design and implementation of initiatives to promote wellbeing. While this is work in progress, we here present a number of design principles that we developed through this work that enable future designs that promote student wellbeing in (pandemic) higher education.

Population Health as a Complex Adaptive System of Systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
Scott E. Page ◽  
Jon Zelner
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Population Level ◽  
System Of Systems ◽  
System Level ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Complex Adaptive

This chapter advocates a complex adaptive system of systems approach to understanding population-level processes in population health. A complex adaptive system consists of diverse, interacting adaptive entities whose aggregated behaviors result in emergent, system-level patterns and functionalities. A complex adaptive system of systems consists of multiple, connected complex systems. The connections can be hierarchical, horizontal, or a mixture of the two. The authors provide basic definitions, describe common tools of analysis, and introduce illustrative cases. For example, increased obesity levels have no single cause, nor do they arise from a single system. Instead, they arise from the interactions of multiple systems that operate at various levels of scale. Genetics and epigenetics play roles, as do nutrition, general health, advertising, infrastructure, social norms, exercise levels, and, as recent evidence suggests, the ecology of colonies of gut bacteria. Each of these contributors can be modeled as a complex adaptive system and the whole as a system of systems. Similarly, population-level disease outbreaks can be decomposed into separate systems, each with unique dynamics.

scholarly journals Open access and connectedness: stimulating unexpected innovation through the use of institutional open archives

2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann van Reenen
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Information Economy ◽  
University Of New Mexico ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Infinite Variety ◽  
The University ◽  
Open Archives

The author reviews past work with Ibict and the global progress made by the Open Access Movement. He postulates a theory of open access being an example of a complex adaptive system created by Internet-based scholarly publishing. Open access could be the cause of a cascade of increasing complexity and opportunities that will reshape this system. He has chosen the pervasive and global "Connectedness" created by the internet and the content spaces it provides for open access collections as a "simple disruptive agent". He discusses how connectedness influences infinite variety, creativity, work, change, knowledge, and the information economy. Case studies from the University of New Mexico Libraries are used where appropriate.

scholarly journals A Complex Adaptive System of Systems Approach to Human-Automation Interaction in Smart Grid

2015 ◽  
pp. 425-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Fereidunian ◽  
Hamid Lesani ◽  
Mohammad Ali Zamani ◽  
Mohamad Amin Sharifi Kolarijani ◽  
Negar Hassanpour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grid ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
System Of Systems ◽  
Complex Adaptive

scholarly journals The university library as a complex adaptive system (CAS)

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Moraes de Bem ◽  
Christianne Coelho de Souza Reinisch Coelho ◽  
Gertrudes Aparecida Dandolini
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive System ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
University Library ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The University

Guanxi as a complex adaptive system: definition, description and underlying principals

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artemis Chang ◽  
Carlin Guo ◽  
Roxanne Zolin ◽  
Xiaohua Yang
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Evolving Networks ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically review the extant guanxi literature to identify the major inconsistencies in the way guanxi is currently conceptualized. The authors develop a conceptualization of guanxi which views guanxi as a complex adaptive system. Design/methodology/approach – Electronic databases were queried for the keyword guanxi. This study offers an extensive review of the current literature, highlighting four major inconsistencies, namely, the breadth, linguistic-cultural depth, temporality and level of the conceptualization and analyses of guanxi. Findings – In reviewing the extant literature, the authors find four levels of inconsistency that contribute to a lack of clarity in the way guanxi is conceptualized. They define guanxi as a complex adaptive system involving a dynamic formed by the strategic establishing, evolving, utilizing and maintaining of personal relationships based on social norms of trust and reciprocal obligation unique to the Chinese culture. Research limitations/implications – This approach has the advantage of capturing the dynamic and emerging nature of guanxi over time, while encompassing the underlying principles of the evolving networks as part of the definition. Practical implications – The authors' new definition makes it easier to explain to people of other cultures. The appropriate level of breadth allows guanxi to be distinguished from associated concepts. This provides guidance for non-Chinese people to help understand guanxi and avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings and conflict. Originality/value – Having a clear and inclusive definition of the cultural practice of guanxi will integrate the growing literature and theoretical dialogue surrounding the phenomena. This will allow for consistent study of guanxi and its underlying principles, making integration of the various studies conceptually easier.

scholarly journals The Action Scales Model: A conceptual tool to identify key points for action within complex adaptive systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 175791392110067
Author(s):  
James D Nobles ◽  
Duncan Radley ◽  
Oliver T Mytton ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
Intervention Level ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Four Levels

Background: Systems thinking is integral to working effectively within complex systems, such as those which drive the current population levels of overweight and obesity. It is increasingly recognised that a systems approach – which corrals public, private, voluntary and community sector organisations to make their actions and efforts coherent – is necessary to address the complex drivers of obesity. Identifying, implementing and evaluating actions within complex adaptive systems is challenging, and may differ from previous approaches used in public health. Methods: Within this conceptual article, we present the Action Scales Model (ASM). The ASM is a simple tool to help policymakers, practitioners and evaluators to conceptualise, identify and appraise actions within complex adaptive systems. We developed this model using our collective expertise and experience in working with local government authority stakeholders on the Public Health England Whole Systems Obesity programme. It aligns with, and expands upon, previous models such as the Intervention Level Framework, the Iceberg Model and Donella Meadows’ 12 places to intervene within a system. Results: The ASM describes four levels (synonymous with leverage points) to intervene within a system, with deeper levels providing greater potential for changing how the system functions. Levels include events, structures, goals and beliefs. We also present how the ASM can be used to support practice and policy, and finish by highlighting its utility as an evaluative aid. Discussion: This practical tool was designed to support those working at the front line of systems change efforts, and while we use the population prevalence of obesity as an outcome of a complex adaptive system, the ASM and the associated principles can be applied to other issues. We hope that the ASM encourages people to think differently about the systems that they work within and to identify new and potentially more impactful opportunities to leverage change.

scholarly journals University Library as a Complex Adaptive System (CAS)

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Moraes De Bem ◽  
Christianne Coelho de Souza Reinisch Coelho ◽  
Gertrudes Aparecida Dandolini
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
University Library ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The University

The paper introduces a theoretical model based on literature review for understanding the University Libraries as Complex Adaptive Systems, introducing a new methodology to deal with these institutions. It is a possibility for University Libraries managers to glimpse the unstable scenario of these institutions. This approach is based on the literature review to identify approaches considering the complexity within the libraries in order to base the construction of a model as a proposal. Although there are approaches that consider the University Library as a complex institution, it attests that this is not considered in its entirety, that is, not all its services and agents are involved, but only focus on some aspects or services. Besides, the characterization and understanding of the University Library as a Complex Adaptive System is unknown in the literature. The proposal of a model facilitates the understanding and provides the possibility of practical application for characterization of these institutions, University Libraries, as Complex Adaptive Systems, providing different types of knowledge, as well as the strategies and actions necessary to adapt to the ephemeral context in which they operate.

Mathematical Formalism and Political-Economic Content

2012 ◽  
pp. 82-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Foley
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Economic Modeling ◽  
Qualitative Properties ◽  
Mathematical Methods ◽  
Econometric Methods ◽  
Statistical Fluctuations ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
New Thinking

Mathematical methods are only one moment in a layered process of theory generation in political economy, which starts from Schumpeterian vision, progresses to the identification of relevant abstractions, the development of mathematical and quantitative models, and the confrontation of theories with empirical data through statistical methods. But today the relevant abstract problems of political economy are modified to fit available mathematical tools. The role of empirical research in disciplining theoretical speculation, on which the scientific traditions integrity rests, was undermined by specific limitations of nascent econometric methods, and usurped by ex cathedra methodological fiats of theorists. These developmentssystematically favored certain ideological predispositions of economicsas a discipline. There is abundant room for New Thinking in political economy starting from the vision of the capitalist economy as a complex, adaptive system far from equilibrium, including the development of the theory of statistical fluctuations for economic interactions, redirection of macroeconomics and financial economics from path prediction toward an understanding of the qualitative properties of the system, introduction of constructive and computable methods into economic modeling, and the critical reconstruction of econometric statistical methods.

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