Pre-College Education Special Interest Group (SIG)
Join us to to spread the use of systems thinking and System Dynamics lessons to enhance student understanding of systems around them and help them become better decision makers.
Our vision is that students ages 4 to 18 in all countries experience modeling opportunities in multiple disciplines (including science, mathematics, health, geography, economics, literature, political science, psychology, sociology, etc.)
Click on the Engine and edit your profile.
Not a Society member? Create a free account and Join the SIG.
UPCOMING
SIG EVENTS
SIG BLOG
Learn more about the latest developments in the pre-college education field and how System Dynamics and systems thinking is making an impact.
SIG RESOURCES
-
Identifying researchers and research articles >in the area of ST/SD in precollege education
-
Bibliography List for researchers in the area of ST/SD in precollege education
-
Please fill this form if you can not find your article, monograph, report, chapter or dissertation in the list above
2022, April 21st (1pm EDT)
Agenda
- We have a short presentation planned (by teachers) to show an adaptation of the systems thinking approach using systems thinking tools with the IB PYP. A discussion will follow about possible adaptation of ST with MYP key concepts.
- We will advertise a webinar we are planning for May. We will have 3 speakers talking about using Systems Thinking and System Dynamics modeling to teach lessons dealing with climate change in pre-college education with students.
- We want to ask if any participants want to present their ST/SD work with precollege students in future SIG meetings.
- We would like to discuss early thoughts regarding establishing a mentoring program for pre-college teacherswho want to start using ST/SD in their classes. More details in the June SIG meeting.
2022, March 1st (12:30 Singapore Time)
2022, February 24th (12pm EDT)
Agenda
- We have an activity planned for part of this Pre-college SIG meeting. One of our SIG leaders, Nilay Yilmaz, is a children’s book author in Turkey. Nilay is in the leadership team of a multidisciplinary group of preschool, primary school, and middle school teachers, a medical doctor, and an engineer. The group has been working on systems thinking concepts (interconnection, feedback dynamics, stock/flow relationships, etc.) that should be found in storybooks so they can become the foundation of systems thinking lessons in early childhood education. To that end a systems thinking assessment tool was created to score the systems thinking concepts in children’s storybooks.
- Sometimes these stories are difficult to find at a given grade level. Sometimes teachers have written children’s stories to support this work in their classes. We have attached one such story written by a preschool teacher in Turkey, with the author’s permission. (Note: the attachment is only the text of the story and does not contain the beautiful illustrations that were done to support the story.) As part of this SIG meeting we would like to take you through the process of scoring this story. Please read the story (English version) before attending the SIG meeting. Then you will be able to download the assessment sheet during the meeting and we will go to work.
- After we do this activity we will identify a URL that will allow you to upload (in English) your own assessments for other children’s stories you may use with your children or students, so we can collect a list of stories (and their ST strength) to help other teachers who want to bring ST into their classes (or help parents who want to introduce ST concepts to their young children). The stories can be at any level of pre-college education.
Here are some other topics we will discuss during the SIG meeting in February;
- Advertising the great webinar we are planning for March. We will have 3 speakers talking about an overview strategy they used to start the process of infusing ST in pre-college education in Turkey.
- Selecting the 2-3 major goals we want to focus on for 2022 for our Pre-college SIG.
- (If time)Setting up a mentoring program for pre-college teachers who want to start using ST/SD in their classes. More details in the April SIG meeting.
2021, December 16th & December 21st (Repeat Meeting)
Agenda:
- A webinar with 3 presenters (45 minutes):
- Sebnem Feriver talking about her research using systems thinking with pre-school children.
- Özgün Çetinkaya talking about using systems thinking with primary school children.
- Sena Yildiz Degirmenci and Görkem Girgin talking about using systems thinking and system dynamics modeling with middle school children.
- The formal SIG meeting (at most 45 minutes), follows the webinar:
- Conversations with invited researchers who have published articles on using ST/SD in pre-college education.
- Presentation by Alan Ticotsky (author of The Shape of Change) on his new environmental science book for middle/high school. Fresh off the press: “Now What? A Call to Action – Environmental Systems Lessons for Upcoming Generations,” in collaboration with the Creative Learning Exchange.
- Discussion about new focus areas for submitting papers for the ISDC for each thread. We will discuss the focus areas for the Learning and Teaching thread.
- (if time) an update on systems thinking assessment questions.
- Other topics of interest from the participants.
2021, October 28th (2pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Identifying potential dates (and times) for Precollege SIG meetings this academic year: (December 16, 2021, February 24, 2022, April 2-3, 2022, May 26, 2022, July-ISDC?)
- Presentation (15 minutes): ST/SD lesson in science for students ages 12-14 from a teacher in Meltem’s school in Turkey.
Please let us know if you would like to make a precollege ST/SD lesson presentation at a future meeting. - Identifying researchers and research articles in the area of ST/SD in precollege education (Emre Göktepe – Özgün Kurt Çetinkaya)
A link to hundreds of relevant articles in ST/SD and education, along with another link of authors of those articles and either their website or email contact information will be provided during the Precollege SIG meeting- Bibliography List for researchers in the area of ST/SD in precollege education
- Please fill this form if you can not find your article, monograph, report, chapter or dissertation in the list above
- The SDS Precollege SIG webpage will be under construction for the next few months. Many exciting changes will be made, with resources and important links. The work is being done by Özgün and we are very lucky to have her innovative ideas for the webpage.
https://systemdynamics.org/special-interest-groups/pre-college-education-sig/ - Discussion on other relevant topics related to the use of ST/SD in Precollege education.
2021, August 19th (1pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Introduction of new associates who will help lead the planning and discussion of the SDS Precollege SIG. All of our new associates are from Turkey. We are so lucky to have their experience and help.
- Meltem C. Alibeyoglu –after working 5 years as an academic coordinator, now working in the same school as R&D Coordinator in middle & secondary school and Nilay Yilmaz storybook author, holding PhD on Turkish and children’s literature. She will collaborate on determining the SIG agenda and planning for future meetings and setting up an SDS Precollege SIG Forum to promote online discussion.
- Sebnem F.Gezer – researcher, holding PhD in early childhood education (Title of her thesis: Systems Thinking Skills of Preschool Children in Early Childhood Education Contexts of Turkey and Germany) and Özgün Cetinkaya Kurt – classroom teacher, hoping to pursue a PhD in systems thinking in elementary education. She will be maintaining the ST/SD in Precollege Education practitioners database; maintaining the SDS Precollege SIG webpage.
- Göksen Kizilkaya – English language teacher in Turkey.
- She is translating 100 systems thinking assessment questions the Turkish ST/SD educators have created over the past 5 years to English and submitting them to the ST/SD Assessment Database.
- Current and planned activities for the SDS Precollege SIG for 2021
- Meetings – every other month, starting in August
- Continue to collect ST/SD assessment questions to add to the database
- Submit questions at: https://forms.gle/6hhP2csJky8fexTRA
- Update the SDS Precollege SIG webpage and forum – (Şebnem and Özgün)
- Set up a convenient forum for precollege ST/SD discussions – (Özgün)
- Maybe use the CLE listserv? Or do we want to use Slack?
- At least one 15 minute video presentation every SIG meeting by educators who use ST/SD in their precollege classes – different levels (early childhood, primary, middle school, secondary school). Please let us know if you want to present at one of the SIG meetings.
- Note: Özgün is preparing a presentation and handout in English for August meeting
- Identifying academicians working in ST/SD precollege education (Emre Göktepe) We will focus on this for our next SIG meeting and have a significant list of articles for you.
- Update and maintain a database of educators using ST/SD in precollege, globally (Sebnem and Özgün)
- PLEASE let us know of names who should be added to the list. Please make sure the person you suggest is OK with us knowing his/her name. That person can use the link below to submit his/her name and information for our database, or you can give us his/her contact information and we will contact them for permission.
- Google form was created – Link is https://forms.gle/8WKdjKT4aZrxRAWw9
- We will request information from SDS Chapters regarding any ST/SD work being done in precollege
- Find contacts in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools (Özgün) Information about potential of influence of ST/SD in IB schools will be discussed in our.
2022, April 21st (1pm EDT)
2022, March 1st (12:30 Singapore Time)
2022, February 24th (12pm EDT)
Agenda
- We have an activity planned for part of this Pre-college SIG meeting. One of our SIG leaders, Nilay Yilmaz, is a children’s book author in Turkey. Nilay is in the leadership team of a multidisciplinary group of preschool, primary school, and middle school teachers, a medical doctor, and an engineer. The group has been working on systems thinking concepts (interconnection, feedback dynamics, stock/flow relationships, etc.) that should be found in storybooks so they can become the foundation of systems thinking lessons in early childhood education. To that end a systems thinking assessment tool was created to score the systems thinking concepts in children’s storybooks.
- Sometimes these stories are difficult to find at a given grade level. Sometimes teachers have written children’s stories to support this work in their classes. We have attached one such story written by a preschool teacher in Turkey, with the author’s permission. (Note: the attachment is only the text of the story and does not contain the beautiful illustrations that were done to support the story.) As part of this SIG meeting we would like to take you through the process of scoring this story. Please read the story (English version) before attending the SIG meeting. Then you will be able to download the assessment sheet during the meeting and we will go to work.
- After we do this activity we will identify a URL that will allow you to upload (in English) your own assessments for other children’s stories you may use with your children or students, so we can collect a list of stories (and their ST strength) to help other teachers who want to bring ST into their classes (or help parents who want to introduce ST concepts to their young children). The stories can be at any level of pre-college education.
Here are some other topics we will discuss during the SIG meeting in February;
- Advertising the great webinar we are planning for March. We will have 3 speakers talking about an overview strategy they used to start the process of infusing ST in pre-college education in Turkey.
- Selecting the 2-3 major goals we want to focus on for 2022 for our Pre-college SIG.
- (If time)Setting up a mentoring program for pre-college teachers who want to start using ST/SD in their classes. More details in the April SIG meeting.
2021, December 16th & December 21st (Repeat Meeting)
Agenda:
- A webinar with 3 presenters (45 minutes):
- Sebnem Feriver talking about her research using systems thinking with pre-school children.
- Özgün Çetinkaya talking about using systems thinking with primary school children.
- Sena Yildiz Degirmenci and Görkem Girgin talking about using systems thinking and system dynamics modeling with middle school children.
- The formal SIG meeting (at most 45 minutes), follows the webinar:
- Conversations with invited researchers who have published articles on using ST/SD in pre-college education.
- Presentation by Alan Ticotsky (author of The Shape of Change) on his new environmental science book for middle/high school. Fresh off the press: “Now What? A Call to Action – Environmental Systems Lessons for Upcoming Generations,” in collaboration with the Creative Learning Exchange.
- Discussion about new focus areas for submitting papers for the ISDC for each thread. We will discuss the focus areas for the Learning and Teaching thread.
- (if time) an update on systems thinking assessment questions.
- Other topics of interest from the participants.
2021, October 28th (2pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Identifying potential dates (and times) for Precollege SIG meetings this academic year: (December 16, 2021, February 24, 2022, April 2-3, 2022, May 26, 2022, July-ISDC?)
- Presentation (15 minutes): ST/SD lesson in science for students ages 12-14 from a teacher in Meltem’s school in Turkey.
Please let us know if you would like to make a precollege ST/SD lesson presentation at a future meeting. - Identifying researchers and research articles in the area of ST/SD in precollege education (Emre Göktepe – Özgün Kurt Çetinkaya)
A link to hundreds of relevant articles in ST/SD and education, along with another link of authors of those articles and either their website or email contact information will be provided during the Precollege SIG meeting- Bibliography List for researchers in the area of ST/SD in precollege education
- Please fill this form if you can not find your article, monograph, report, chapter or dissertation in the list above
- The SDS Precollege SIG webpage will be under construction for the next few months. Many exciting changes will be made, with resources and important links. The work is being done by Özgün and we are very lucky to have her innovative ideas for the webpage.
https://systemdynamics.org/special-interest-groups/pre-college-education-sig/ - Discussion on other relevant topics related to the use of ST/SD in Precollege education.
2021, August 19th (1pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Introduction of new associates who will help lead the planning and discussion of the SDS Precollege SIG. All of our new associates are from Turkey. We are so lucky to have their experience and help.
- Meltem C. Alibeyoglu –after working 5 years as an academic coordinator, now working in the same school as R&D Coordinator in middle & secondary school and Nilay Yilmaz storybook author, holding PhD on Turkish and children’s literature. She will collaborate on determining the SIG agenda and planning for future meetings and setting up an SDS Precollege SIG Forum to promote online discussion.
- Sebnem F.Gezer – researcher, holding PhD in early childhood education (Title of her thesis: Systems Thinking Skills of Preschool Children in Early Childhood Education Contexts of Turkey and Germany) and Özgün Cetinkaya Kurt – classroom teacher, hoping to pursue a PhD in systems thinking in elementary education. She will be maintaining the ST/SD in Precollege Education practitioners database; maintaining the SDS Precollege SIG webpage.
- Göksen Kizilkaya – English language teacher in Turkey.
- She is translating 100 systems thinking assessment questions the Turkish ST/SD educators have created over the past 5 years to English and submitting them to the ST/SD Assessment Database.
- Current and planned activities for the SDS Precollege SIG for 2021
- Meetings – every other month, starting in August
- Continue to collect ST/SD assessment questions to add to the database
- Submit questions at: https://forms.gle/6hhP2csJky8fexTRA
- Update the SDS Precollege SIG webpage and forum – (Şebnem and Özgün)
- Set up a convenient forum for precollege ST/SD discussions – (Özgün)
- Maybe use the CLE listserv? Or do we want to use Slack?
- At least one 15 minute video presentation every SIG meeting by educators who use ST/SD in their precollege classes – different levels (early childhood, primary, middle school, secondary school). Please let us know if you want to present at one of the SIG meetings.
- Note: Özgün is preparing a presentation and handout in English for August meeting
- Identifying academicians working in ST/SD precollege education (Emre Göktepe) We will focus on this for our next SIG meeting and have a significant list of articles for you.
- Update and maintain a database of educators using ST/SD in precollege, globally (Sebnem and Özgün)
- PLEASE let us know of names who should be added to the list. Please make sure the person you suggest is OK with us knowing his/her name. That person can use the link below to submit his/her name and information for our database, or you can give us his/her contact information and we will contact them for permission.
- Google form was created – Link is https://forms.gle/8WKdjKT4aZrxRAWw9
- We will request information from SDS Chapters regarding any ST/SD work being done in precollege
- Find contacts in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools (Özgün) Information about potential of influence of ST/SD in IB schools will be discussed in our.
2022, April 21st (1pm EDT)
2022, March 1st (12:30 Singapore Time)
2022, February 24th (12pm EDT)
Agenda
- We have an activity planned for part of this Pre-college SIG meeting. One of our SIG leaders, Nilay Yilmaz, is a children’s book author in Turkey. Nilay is in the leadership team of a multidisciplinary group of preschool, primary school, and middle school teachers, a medical doctor, and an engineer. The group has been working on systems thinking concepts (interconnection, feedback dynamics, stock/flow relationships, etc.) that should be found in storybooks so they can become the foundation of systems thinking lessons in early childhood education. To that end a systems thinking assessment tool was created to score the systems thinking concepts in children’s storybooks.
- Sometimes these stories are difficult to find at a given grade level. Sometimes teachers have written children’s stories to support this work in their classes. We have attached one such story written by a preschool teacher in Turkey, with the author’s permission. (Note: the attachment is only the text of the story and does not contain the beautiful illustrations that were done to support the story.) As part of this SIG meeting we would like to take you through the process of scoring this story. Please read the story (English version) before attending the SIG meeting. Then you will be able to download the assessment sheet during the meeting and we will go to work.
- After we do this activity we will identify a URL that will allow you to upload (in English) your own assessments for other children’s stories you may use with your children or students, so we can collect a list of stories (and their ST strength) to help other teachers who want to bring ST into their classes (or help parents who want to introduce ST concepts to their young children). The stories can be at any level of pre-college education.
Here are some other topics we will discuss during the SIG meeting in February;
- Advertising the great webinar we are planning for March. We will have 3 speakers talking about an overview strategy they used to start the process of infusing ST in pre-college education in Turkey.
- Selecting the 2-3 major goals we want to focus on for 2022 for our Pre-college SIG.
- (If time)Setting up a mentoring program for pre-college teachers who want to start using ST/SD in their classes. More details in the April SIG meeting.
2021, December 16th & December 21st (Repeat Meeting)
Agenda:
- A webinar with 3 presenters (45 minutes):
- Sebnem Feriver talking about her research using systems thinking with pre-school children.
- Özgün Çetinkaya talking about using systems thinking with primary school children.
- Sena Yildiz Degirmenci and Görkem Girgin talking about using systems thinking and system dynamics modeling with middle school children.
- The formal SIG meeting (at most 45 minutes), follows the webinar:
- Conversations with invited researchers who have published articles on using ST/SD in pre-college education.
- Presentation by Alan Ticotsky (author of The Shape of Change) on his new environmental science book for middle/high school. Fresh off the press: “Now What? A Call to Action – Environmental Systems Lessons for Upcoming Generations,” in collaboration with the Creative Learning Exchange.
- Discussion about new focus areas for submitting papers for the ISDC for each thread. We will discuss the focus areas for the Learning and Teaching thread.
- (if time) an update on systems thinking assessment questions.
- Other topics of interest from the participants.
2021, October 28th (2pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Identifying potential dates (and times) for Precollege SIG meetings this academic year: (December 16, 2021, February 24, 2022, April 2-3, 2022, May 26, 2022, July-ISDC?)
- Presentation (15 minutes): ST/SD lesson in science for students ages 12-14 from a teacher in Meltem’s school in Turkey.
Please let us know if you would like to make a precollege ST/SD lesson presentation at a future meeting. - Identifying researchers and research articles in the area of ST/SD in precollege education (Emre Göktepe – Özgün Kurt Çetinkaya)
A link to hundreds of relevant articles in ST/SD and education, along with another link of authors of those articles and either their website or email contact information will be provided during the Precollege SIG meeting- Bibliography List for researchers in the area of ST/SD in precollege education
- Please fill this form if you can not find your article, monograph, report, chapter or dissertation in the list above
- The SDS Precollege SIG webpage will be under construction for the next few months. Many exciting changes will be made, with resources and important links. The work is being done by Özgün and we are very lucky to have her innovative ideas for the webpage.
https://systemdynamics.org/special-interest-groups/pre-college-education-sig/ - Discussion on other relevant topics related to the use of ST/SD in Precollege education.
2021, August 19th (1pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Introduction of new associates who will help lead the planning and discussion of the SDS Precollege SIG. All of our new associates are from Turkey. We are so lucky to have their experience and help.
- Meltem C. Alibeyoglu –after working 5 years as an academic coordinator, now working in the same school as R&D Coordinator in middle & secondary school and Nilay Yilmaz storybook author, holding PhD on Turkish and children’s literature. She will collaborate on determining the SIG agenda and planning for future meetings and setting up an SDS Precollege SIG Forum to promote online discussion.
- Sebnem F.Gezer – researcher, holding PhD in early childhood education (Title of her thesis: Systems Thinking Skills of Preschool Children in Early Childhood Education Contexts of Turkey and Germany) and Özgün Cetinkaya Kurt – classroom teacher, hoping to pursue a PhD in systems thinking in elementary education. She will be maintaining the ST/SD in Precollege Education practitioners database; maintaining the SDS Precollege SIG webpage.
- Göksen Kizilkaya – English language teacher in Turkey.
- She is translating 100 systems thinking assessment questions the Turkish ST/SD educators have created over the past 5 years to English and submitting them to the ST/SD Assessment Database.
- Current and planned activities for the SDS Precollege SIG for 2021
- Meetings – every other month, starting in August
- Continue to collect ST/SD assessment questions to add to the database
- Submit questions at: https://forms.gle/6hhP2csJky8fexTRA
- Update the SDS Precollege SIG webpage and forum – (Şebnem and Özgün)
- Set up a convenient forum for precollege ST/SD discussions – (Özgün)
- Maybe use the CLE listserv? Or do we want to use Slack?
- At least one 15 minute video presentation every SIG meeting by educators who use ST/SD in their precollege classes – different levels (early childhood, primary, middle school, secondary school). Please let us know if you want to present at one of the SIG meetings.
- Note: Özgün is preparing a presentation and handout in English for August meeting
- Identifying academicians working in ST/SD precollege education (Emre Göktepe) We will focus on this for our next SIG meeting and have a significant list of articles for you.
- Update and maintain a database of educators using ST/SD in precollege, globally (Sebnem and Özgün)
- PLEASE let us know of names who should be added to the list. Please make sure the person you suggest is OK with us knowing his/her name. That person can use the link below to submit his/her name and information for our database, or you can give us his/her contact information and we will contact them for permission.
- Google form was created – Link is https://forms.gle/8WKdjKT4aZrxRAWw9
- We will request information from SDS Chapters regarding any ST/SD work being done in precollege
- Find contacts in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools (Özgün) Information about potential of influence of ST/SD in IB schools will be discussed in our.
2022, April 21st (1pm EDT)
2022, March 1st (12:30 Singapore Time)
2022, February 24th (12pm EDT)
Agenda
- We have an activity planned for part of this Pre-college SIG meeting. One of our SIG leaders, Nilay Yilmaz, is a children’s book author in Turkey. Nilay is in the leadership team of a multidisciplinary group of preschool, primary school, and middle school teachers, a medical doctor, and an engineer. The group has been working on systems thinking concepts (interconnection, feedback dynamics, stock/flow relationships, etc.) that should be found in storybooks so they can become the foundation of systems thinking lessons in early childhood education. To that end a systems thinking assessment tool was created to score the systems thinking concepts in children’s storybooks.
- Sometimes these stories are difficult to find at a given grade level. Sometimes teachers have written children’s stories to support this work in their classes. We have attached one such story written by a preschool teacher in Turkey, with the author’s permission. (Note: the attachment is only the text of the story and does not contain the beautiful illustrations that were done to support the story.) As part of this SIG meeting we would like to take you through the process of scoring this story. Please read the story (English version) before attending the SIG meeting. Then you will be able to download the assessment sheet during the meeting and we will go to work.
- After we do this activity we will identify a URL that will allow you to upload (in English) your own assessments for other children’s stories you may use with your children or students, so we can collect a list of stories (and their ST strength) to help other teachers who want to bring ST into their classes (or help parents who want to introduce ST concepts to their young children). The stories can be at any level of pre-college education.
Here are some other topics we will discuss during the SIG meeting in February;
- Advertising the great webinar we are planning for March. We will have 3 speakers talking about an overview strategy they used to start the process of infusing ST in pre-college education in Turkey.
- Selecting the 2-3 major goals we want to focus on for 2022 for our Pre-college SIG.
- (If time)Setting up a mentoring program for pre-college teachers who want to start using ST/SD in their classes. More details in the April SIG meeting.
2021, December 16th & December 21st (Repeat Meeting)
Agenda:
- A webinar with 3 presenters (45 minutes):
- Sebnem Feriver talking about her research using systems thinking with pre-school children.
- Özgün Çetinkaya talking about using systems thinking with primary school children.
- Sena Yildiz Degirmenci and Görkem Girgin talking about using systems thinking and system dynamics modeling with middle school children.
- The formal SIG meeting (at most 45 minutes), follows the webinar:
- Conversations with invited researchers who have published articles on using ST/SD in pre-college education.
- Presentation by Alan Ticotsky (author of The Shape of Change) on his new environmental science book for middle/high school. Fresh off the press: “Now What? A Call to Action – Environmental Systems Lessons for Upcoming Generations,” in collaboration with the Creative Learning Exchange.
- Discussion about new focus areas for submitting papers for the ISDC for each thread. We will discuss the focus areas for the Learning and Teaching thread.
- (if time) an update on systems thinking assessment questions.
- Other topics of interest from the participants.
2021, October 28th (2pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Identifying potential dates (and times) for Precollege SIG meetings this academic year: (December 16, 2021, February 24, 2022, April 2-3, 2022, May 26, 2022, July-ISDC?)
- Presentation (15 minutes): ST/SD lesson in science for students ages 12-14 from a teacher in Meltem’s school in Turkey.
Please let us know if you would like to make a precollege ST/SD lesson presentation at a future meeting. - Identifying researchers and research articles in the area of ST/SD in precollege education (Emre Göktepe – Özgün Kurt Çetinkaya)
A link to hundreds of relevant articles in ST/SD and education, along with another link of authors of those articles and either their website or email contact information will be provided during the Precollege SIG meeting- Bibliography List for researchers in the area of ST/SD in precollege education
- Please fill this form if you can not find your article, monograph, report, chapter or dissertation in the list above
- The SDS Precollege SIG webpage will be under construction for the next few months. Many exciting changes will be made, with resources and important links. The work is being done by Özgün and we are very lucky to have her innovative ideas for the webpage.
https://systemdynamics.org/special-interest-groups/pre-college-education-sig/ - Discussion on other relevant topics related to the use of ST/SD in Precollege education.
2021, August 19th (1pm EDT)
Agenda:
- Introduction of new associates who will help lead the planning and discussion of the SDS Precollege SIG. All of our new associates are from Turkey. We are so lucky to have their experience and help.
- Meltem C. Alibeyoglu –after working 5 years as an academic coordinator, now working in the same school as R&D Coordinator in middle & secondary school and Nilay Yilmaz storybook author, holding PhD on Turkish and children’s literature. She will collaborate on determining the SIG agenda and planning for future meetings and setting up an SDS Precollege SIG Forum to promote online discussion.
- Sebnem F.Gezer – researcher, holding PhD in early childhood education (Title of her thesis: Systems Thinking Skills of Preschool Children in Early Childhood Education Contexts of Turkey and Germany) and Özgün Cetinkaya Kurt – classroom teacher, hoping to pursue a PhD in systems thinking in elementary education. She will be maintaining the ST/SD in Precollege Education practitioners database; maintaining the SDS Precollege SIG webpage.
- Göksen Kizilkaya – English language teacher in Turkey.
- She is translating 100 systems thinking assessment questions the Turkish ST/SD educators have created over the past 5 years to English and submitting them to the ST/SD Assessment Database.
- Current and planned activities for the SDS Precollege SIG for 2021
- Meetings – every other month, starting in August
- Continue to collect ST/SD assessment questions to add to the database
- Submit questions at: https://forms.gle/6hhP2csJky8fexTRA
- Update the SDS Precollege SIG webpage and forum – (Şebnem and Özgün)
- Set up a convenient forum for precollege ST/SD discussions – (Özgün)
- Maybe use the CLE listserv? Or do we want to use Slack?
- At least one 15 minute video presentation every SIG meeting by educators who use ST/SD in their precollege classes – different levels (early childhood, primary, middle school, secondary school). Please let us know if you want to present at one of the SIG meetings.
- Note: Özgün is preparing a presentation and handout in English for August meeting
- Identifying academicians working in ST/SD precollege education (Emre Göktepe) We will focus on this for our next SIG meeting and have a significant list of articles for you.
- Update and maintain a database of educators using ST/SD in precollege, globally (Sebnem and Özgün)
- PLEASE let us know of names who should be added to the list. Please make sure the person you suggest is OK with us knowing his/her name. That person can use the link below to submit his/her name and information for our database, or you can give us his/her contact information and we will contact them for permission.
- Google form was created – Link is https://forms.gle/8WKdjKT4aZrxRAWw9
- We will request information from SDS Chapters regarding any ST/SD work being done in precollege
- Find contacts in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools (Özgün) Information about potential of influence of ST/SD in IB schools will be discussed in our.
connect
Application Form for Educators Using Systems Thinking/System Dynamics Tools in Precollege Education
K-12 DISCUSSION LISTSERVE
Purpose:
The cle_k-12discussion@simplelists
Some topics might include:
- reports of experiences – successes, interesting vignettes, problems, failures
- how best to introduce systems and modeling to students
- how to encourage colleagues to use systems education
- what organizational structures contribute to learner-centered learning
- what classroom techniques work best
- when does the learning curve steepen for students and teachers
- what materials are most effective
- what research would help systems education and learner-centered learning
- what assessment techniques are available and seem effective announcements of upcoming workshops and conferences
To Post A Message:
Send an email to cle_k-12discussion@simplelists.com to originate a discussion. Or reply to an existing thread in your email.
To Subscribe/unsubscribe:
PRE-COLLEGE EDUCATION FRIENDLY
Friendly journals to publish your System Dynamics, pre-college education work. Check out “Publisher” in our bibliography to find further publishing options.
The Pre-college education SIG supports and promotes System Dynamics threads in a number of conferences and other events.
SIG GOALS & HISTORY
The Pre-College Education Special Interest Group was formed in YYYY. It currently has 65 members.
The Pre-College Education Special Interest Group has as a vision the infusion of systems thinking and System Dynamics modeling experiences for students ages 4 to 18 in all countries and in multiple disciplines (including science, mathematics, health, geography, economics, literature, political science, psychology, sociology, etc.). Our aim is to spread the use of systems thinking and System Dynamics lessons to enhance student understanding of systems around them and help them become better decision makers.
Current initiatives:
– Creating SplashExchange The second generation of Splash! that will allow models to demonstrate oscillating behavior. We should have a beta version available for testing in December 2021.
– Compiling a set of questions to assess systems thinking skills for students ages 5 to 22.


Diana Fisher
Diana Fisher, VP Pre-college Education. Contact
Gökşen Kızılkaya
English Teacher, Systems Thinking Association, Turkey Contact


Lees Stuntz
Executive Director, The Creative Learning Exchange Contact
Özgün Kurt Çetinkaya
Primary School Teacher, Systems Thinking Association, Turkey Contact
Meltem C. Alibeyoğlu
Darussafaka Schools Research and Development Coordinator Contact
Nilay Yılmaz
Story Book Author, Sytems Thinking Association in Turkey Contact
Sena Yıldız Değirmenci
Science Teacher, Systems Thinking Association in Turkey Contact
Şebnem F. Gezer
Education for Sustainability Researcher Contact