A Leverage Point: Systems Thinking in Pre-Service “Teacher Training” Education
Dear Colleagues,
We are excited to invite you to our free webinar entitled ‘A Leverage Point: Systems Thinking in Pre-Service “Teacher Training” Education’ on Thursday, February 29, at 12:00 noon EST.
We consider courses that train pre-service precollege teachers to be one of the most critical places impacting in the formation of system citizens. The professors teaching these courses ultimately determine the criteria for topics and methods to be included within the curriculum and the criteria for student academic success.
The infusion of systems thinking in courses that train pre-service precollege teachers has the potential to be one of the most influential points on Donella Meadows’ list of places to intervene in a system, that is, the purpose of the system.
In this webinar, the experiences gained from the experiments carried out in precollege pre-service teacher training courses in Türkiye since 2019, the work done and plans for the future will be shared and a collaborative discussion environment will ensue where the presenters offer suggestions for those who want to undertake similar projects.
 Timeline of courses where systems thinking is/was taught as a separate course (circle) or used as a tool in another course (triangle) by professors of education in Türkiye. |
We strongly encourage you to come prepared with questions, contributions, suggestions, and ideas. Your insights will not only enrich the discussions but also provide a platform for collaborative learning and exploration.
We look forward to your active participation in this webinar. Let’s explore the world of systems dynamics together and uncover innovative ways to enhance education.
Best regards – the SIG leadership team.
| Diana Fisher Ülkem Yararbaş Burcu Güngör Cabbar Chang-Kwon (Benjamin) Chung Donald DeLand Ed Gallaher Emre Göktepe Gaye D. Ceyhan |
Matilde (Lin Ya) Hong Meltem C. Alibeyoğlu Prof. Dr. Min-Ren Yan Özgün Kurt Çetinkaya Sena Yıldız Değirmenci Steven Roderick Şebnem F. Gezer |
|
Burcu Güngör Cabbar |
|
 |
Dr. Burcu Güngör Cabbar studied Biology Education at Balikesir University. She took her Ph.D. in Biology Education at the same University. Cabbar worked as a biology teacher, research assistant, senior educator, and project coordinator at different NGOs. Since 2018, she has been working as an assistant and is now an associate professor at Balikesir University. She is a creative drama leader and P4C educator. She is a member of the Systems Thinking Association in Türkiye and many non-governmental organizations where she has been involved in the establishment and work. She is actively working in her organization and has courses about systems thinking at the faculty of education. |
|
Gaye Ceyhan |
|
 |
Dr. Gaye Defne Ceyhan is an Assistant Professor of Science Education at Bogazici University. After working as a middle school science teacher for eight years, she received her Ph.D. in Science Education from Syracuse University. Her research focuses on STEM and climate change education, exploring innovative ways to teach STEM and emphasizing systems thinking, sustainable living, and climate change awareness. Dr. Ceyhan has been involved in several projects and has written academic papers to improve climate change education. Her academic endeavors aim to bridge the gap between scientific understanding and practical application in addressing environmental challenges. |
|
Hasret Nuhoğlu |
|
 |
Dr. Hasret Nuhoğlu is a Professor of Mathematics and Science Education at Maltepe University. She received her Ph.D. in Science Education from Gazi University. Her Ph.D. thesis is a pioneering study in Türkiye concerning implementing system dynamics in K12 science education. Dr. Nuhoğlu has been involved in several projects and has written academic papers to improve Systems Thinking in Science Education, STEM Education, Systems Thinking in IB Program, and Science Education for Gifted Students. She is a founding member of Maltepe Children University, where she oversees workshops centered on “STEM in Nature.” She is a member of the System Thinking Association. Nuhoğlu believes that nature is the best teacher, and continues her learning journey by meeting with children and adults of all ages in nature. |
|
Meltem Ceylan Alibeyoğlu |
|
 |
Meltem Ceylan Alibeyoğlu studied Mathematics at Middle East Technical University. She defended her Ph.D. thesis in environmental sciences at Boğaziçi University, İstanbul. Alibeyoğlu worked as a mathematics teacher, project coordinator, PYP Coordinator, and middle school academic coordinator at Darüşşafaka Educational Institutions. Since 2022, she has been working as a Research and Development Coordinator. She is a part-time instructor at boğaziçi University, MEF University. She is a member of the Systems Thinking Association in Türkiye and many non-governmental organizations where she has been involved in the establishment and work. She is actively working in her organization and the Association to develop the applications of systems thinking in education. |
Security, Stability, and Resistance SIG Monthly Mentoring Meeting
Friday, May 26, 2023: Open discussion on spatial dynamics in system dynamics modeling
SSR SIG monthly mentoring group meets every 4th Friday of the month, at 1300 – 1400 Amsterdam time, 0700 – 0800am Boston time, 1900-2000/7 – 8pm Singapore time.
Details for logging into the meeting can be found at the System Dynamics Society calendar website: https://systemdynamics.org/event/
You can join the meeting through the events calender on the SIG website by (1) clicking on the meeting title, and thereafter (2) clicking on the join button. The zoom session should automatically start.
If you have a topic to present, like work in progress, research idea, research approach or research results please reach out to, Anne Johnson SSR SIG Peer Mentoring Group Chair at security@systemdynamics.org.
Current list of topics and meetings
Friday, May 26, 2023: Open discussion on spatial dynamics in system dynamics modeling
June 23, 2023: TBD
Economics in K-12 Education Roundtable
We would like to invite you to attend our free webinar entitled Economics in K-12 Education Roundtable on Thursday, May 25, at 11:00 am EST. Our panel participants will be:
Murat Gökalp – Teacher of Mathematics and Economics in DP & MYP and TOK, Shanghai Community International School, Shanghai, China
David Wheat – Emeritus Professor of Economics and SD, University of Bergen, Norway
Erda Gerçek – Senior Lecturer in Economics and Strategic Thinking at Koç University, İstanbul, Türkiye
Khalid Saeed – Professor of Economics and System Dynamics at WPI, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
We will discuss some the following questions:
- What might be the fundamental stocks in an economy?
- What might be the fundamental flows and flow cycles in an economy?
- What might be the fundamental causal loops in an economy?
- Which economic theories should be introduced, in which order?
- Can a historical approach (starting from hunter gatherers) be used in teaching economics?
- How can value, money, price, fiat be taught?
- Which approach should be used when teaching economics? What are the pros and cons of each approach?
- from micro to macro
- from macro to micro
- in paralel – a spiral education
- Should modeling accounting identities be introduced? If yes, how?
- Alternatively, Should Accounting System Dynamics be introduced? If yes, how?
- How should interconnectedness of economy and ecology be taught?
- circular economy, green economy, sustainability, new economy…
- What is or should be the goal of an economic system?
- What is or should be the function of an economic system?
We hope you will join us for this webinar.
Getting Started on the Right Foot with System Dynamics Modeling
Getting Started on the Right Foot with System Dynamics Modeling
What looks like a feedback loop but isn’t?
What looks like a system dynamics model but isn’t?
We all probably know that systems thinking word-and-arrow maps contain feedback loops and system dynamics models contain stocks and flows as well as feedback loops. But it’s not that simple.
- It may be shocking to realize that some word-and-arrow maps aren’t “systems thinking”! Some loops aren’t “feedback loops”. Some aren’t CLDs, even though they contain loops. They may be good thinking, but they may not be “system dynamics thinking”. How can that be?
- Some pictures we draw in STELLA or Vensim may look something like a system dynamics model but they may be misrepresentations. Some may be unintentional imposters. It’s a fact that something can be diagrammed in STELLA or Vensim but not be a “system dynamics model”! How is that possible?
This workshop is designed to be sure we are all aware of what makes a diagram reflect “systems thinking” and what makes a model a “system dynamics model”.
By the end of this workshop, we will all be better systems thinkers and “mappers”. We won’t all be able to be “modelers” (yet), but we will know what a picture has to look like to have a chance to be a good system dynamics model. We will all be stronger members of the system dynamics community.
Presenter: George P. Richardson
George P. Richardson is Professor Emeritus of public administration, public policy, and information science at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. He earned his doctorate under Jay Forrester at MIT and is the author of Introduction to System Dynamics Modeling with DYNAMO (1981) and Feedback Thought in Social Science and Systems Theory (1991), both of which were honored with the System Dynamics Society’s Forrester Award.
George has played and sung acoustic folk music for sixty years. He has ridden a motorcycle cross-country from NY State to Seattle, the Olympic Peninsula, and down to Portland. He’s also ridden round-trip the fabled Dalton “Highway” from Calgary to Deadhorse, AK, and Prudhoe Bay, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Both trips took less than sixty years.