Subject: K-12 SD Papers

Posted by Ruth Fruland on 11/18/2004
In Reply To:K-12 SD Papers Posted by Debra Lyneis on 10/23/2004

Message:

Debra,

I just completed the first draft of my dissertation about what preserve teachers know about systems and dynamic thinking, and how they evaluate a systems approach to a science-based contemporary controversy for learning and teaching. It was a small qualitative study (twelve student teachers participated in a two week curriculum unit, with five agreeing to being interviewed afterwards).

The proposal (an extended abstract) reporting the results of the study has been accepted by the American Education Research Association (AERA) and so I will be discussing the results at the AERA conference next April, and making the best case I can for systems thinking and dynamic modeling in education at all levels.

I will be glad to contribute the dissertation when it is completed early next year, as well as the curriculum intervention, which introduced basic systems thinking tools such as behavior over time graphs, and a few ideas about a simple model of a food system based on the experience in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Lappe and Lappe, 2002). Actually I would appreciate some help with that one, if anyone has time on their hands
(right!)

Best,
Ruth