Description
Join the hundreds of WPI students who have taken System Dynamics courses taught by world-renowned faculty, and enjoy the convenience of an on-demand, self-paced online format!
WPI’s new Professional Development Online will allow you to take these micro-courses individually and earn a certificate of completion for each, or complete the sequence of all three (plus an additional comprehensive assignment) to earn the
System Dynamics Foundations badge:
Available Now
Coming Soon
- Micro-course 3: The Practice of Modeling Dynamic Systems
After earning the badge, you can opt to apply to WPI to become a matriculated student, earning graduate credit in the corresponding course by completing a capstone project with a mentor. By becoming a WPI student, you will have access to Vensim DSS, Stella Architect, and other useful software that WPI provides.
Micro-course 1: System Dynamics Fundamentals
This classic introductory course in System Dynamics debuted in the 2004-2005 academic year. Jim Hines and Jim Lyneis are the main lecturers, with guest lecturer Oleg Pavlov. We’ve now made it accessible to a larger audience by splitting its content into digestible self-paced modules.
While the original lecture videos may appear old and grainy by today’s standards, the core content is extremely relevant, and the lecture slides are an essential element in complementing the viewing experience. In addition, we have added more practice exercises to help you gauge your understanding along the way.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understanding the causes of dynamic behavior at a basic level
- Utilizing the standard approach to developing System Dynamics models
- Learning to use the basic tools and techniques in developing these models
Content:
- What is System Dynamics
- Dynamic Behavior
- System Archetypes
- Stocks and Flows
- Feedback Structures
- More
Course Features:
- 12 hours of rich instructional videos
- 16 practice exercises, designed to help you gauge your progress
- 5 quizzes to assess your mastery
Meagan Colvin –
The course structure and materials provide a very good, all-round training for beginners in the field. The questions are also designed to be sufficient for evaluating learners comprehension of the materials.
– WPI System Dynamics Fundamentals Student
Meagan Colvin –
System Dynamics is a field that is difficult to find instruction on, besides reading from textbooks. Textbooks provide a lot of information, but they do not explain the relative importance of the information the way an instructor can. This course was very valuable because it showed me what experts in the field believe is important to know for a strong foundation in System Dynamics.
– WPI System Dynamics Fundamentals Student
Meagan Colvin –
This course was an eye opener, I now appreciate the depth of the system dynamics field.
– WPI System Dynamics Fundamentals Student