Shape of Change Stock & Flows

Fall 2009 Newsletter

The International Conference of the System Dynamics Society will feature a coordinated thread of activities designed to highlight the use of system dynamics and systems thinking in K-12 education. These activities will encompass:

• Parallel session(s) based upon full papers undergoing peer review
• A special poster session where K-12 teachers and students will display their work
• Special Evening Chat with Peter Senge.

• A sequence of six workshops tailored to the K-12 community:

• How 6-year olds learn system dynamics ABCs: (Accumulations, Behavior-over-time, Circular causality), by Tracy Benson and Anne LaVigne (Waters Foundation, Tucson, Arizona)
• Engaging lessons to provide context for the use of system dynamics in middle school, by Rob Quaden and Alan Ticotsky (Carlisle Public Schools, Carlisle, Massachussetts)
• A lesson to engage high school students in using system dynamics to enhance critical thinking by Diana Fisher (Wilson High School, Beaverton, Oregon)
• Plus, three workshops by experienced teachers and modelers which show how they incorporate multiple techniques to teach system dynamics practice to college and graduate students:

• Dr. George Richardson (University at Albany, New York)
• Dr. Andrew Ford (Washington State University, Pullman, WA)
• Dr. J. Bradley Morrison (Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

• A round-table discussion to advance collaborations between the system dynamics and K-12 communities

We encourage K-12 educators and system dynamicists to join us at this exciting meeting and help to contribute positively to the utilization of system dynamics, a necessary critical thinking and problem solving skill for all students, in K-12 education.