Subject: A Model and A Play - Similarities

Posted by Sharon Villines on 1/4/2010
In Reply To:A Model and A Play - Similarities Posted by Jack Harich on 1/4/2010

Message:

On Jan 3, 2010, at 1:38 PM, Jack Harich wrote:

> A good process automatically generates and preserves all important
> data, premises, rationale, and conclusions. These are the key output,
> not the model. In the difficult social problem solving process I use,
> the model is a mere byproduct used to illuminate the
> 22 steps of the process.

I think the intention was to discuss how the model can be presented to students so they understand that process. Many students who could understand a dynamic presentation won't have been able to put all the data, premises, etc., together. A system in life is not a string of words or numbers (usually). A student who doesn't take to reading or for whom numbers are not intuitive the way they are for the mathematically inclined, needs another kind of presentation.

A play is a useful positive analogy for a model because almost all students will have seen a play. The analogy to the cathedral is probably less helpful since most students will not have seen what happens in the building of a cathedral. But it is a good negative analogy for a model-- beautiful but largely static. If anyone saw the building of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, however, that process also appears static. All the numbered stones have been laid out on the grounds for years and years. It was begun in 1887 and is still unfinished.

if a model can be presented with the same ever-changing and developing quality as the system it models, the student will be more likely to understand the idea of a model as well as the idea of a system.

It would also be a more effective way to present the dynamics and possible points of intervention.

Sharon

Follow Ups:

A Model and A Play - Similarities - Kathy Arizmendi 1/4/2010 
A Model and A Play - Similarities - Sharon Villines 1/4/2010
A Model and A Play - Similarities - Kathy Arizmendi 1/4/2010