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TEACHING DYNAMIC FEEDBACK SYSTEMS THINKING: AN ELEMENTARY VIEW*
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
Vol. 24, No. 8, April 1978
Printed in USA
TEACHING DYNAMIC FEEDBACK SYSTEMS
THINKING: AN ELEMENTARY VIEW*
NANCY ROBERTS
A pilot study has demonstrated that dynamic feedback systems concepts can be taught to children as
young as ten and eleven years old, when nurtured by a teaching strategy that follows Bruners emphasis
upon the teaching of basic structures.
2
Focusing on the understanding and representation of underlying
structures in the area of social studies, the author developed, implemented and evaluated a curriculum to
teach children both to read dynamic feedback systems causal loop diagrams and also to develop feedback
diagrams explaining causal relationships among variables discussed in written materials. The curriculum
enabled fifth and sixth graders to learn analytic and synthesis skills previously taught primarily to
graduate classes as M. I. T. The positive results achieved seem transferable to broader groups wishing to
become familiar with dynamic feedback systems thinking and its applicability to social problems.
Introduction
Management science techniques can be effectively taught at the elementary and secondary school levels.
This accomplishment is congruent with the goals of TIMS as stated by its past president Martin Starr, who
expressed the desire "to affect the educational system at all grade levels from kindergarten through postdoctoral
studies so that management science becomes increasingly relevant and effective [11, p. 5].
Until recently the impact of management science techniques upon elementary and secondary schools
had been limited almost entirely to the use of simulation gaming, usually non-computerized. This paper
describes a recent successful effort to introduce dynamic feedback systems thinking, based on the system
dynamics approach to fifth and sixth grade students. This pilot study has been followed by use of the prototype
curriculum materials at all levels of education, from kindergarten through executive development programs. An
effort is now underway to develop materials aimed at secondary students for enabling them to perform more
advanced phases of management science model building.
Explanation of Terms
A dynamic feedback system is an ongoing set of relationships in which the output of an action taken by
one person or group eventually has an effect again on that person or group. The dynamic feedback systems
approach to understanding management problems has been studied and extensively developed at M.I.T. for the
last twenty years by a group led by Jay W. Forrester [3]. Their work was based upon two prior decades of
research in the area of feedback control theory and mathematics led by the pioneering of Norbert Wiener. Over
the years the approach has spread from business issues to understanding what creates and maintains problems
in many areas of social science and economics[4].
A researcher goes through three basic phases when analyzing a problem from the dynamic feedback
systems perspective. In the first phase he develops visual feedback diagrams showing the cause-and-effect
structure of the system being studied. The second stage is equation writing. Using DYNAMO [8] or an
equivalent computer simulation language, the researcher states in precise mathematical form the cause-and-
effect relationships he has identified. During the third basic phase the researcher simulates, with the aid of a
* Accepted by Peter J. Kolesar, former Departmental Editor; received March 1976. This paper has been with the author 4
months for 2 revisions.
Lesley College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Copyright © 1978. The Institute of Management Sciences
Permission granted to copy for educational purposes. 2
computer, the model he has built. Later phases of the approach involve model validation, computer
experimentation, redesign, and continued reiteration of this overall cycle. The pilot project that was tested with
the fifth and sixth graders focused on the first phase of the dynamic feedback systems approach . . . the
development of visual feedback diagrams showing cause-and-effect structures of complex systems.
Rationale for the Project
The area of social studies in the elementary school curriculum has been criticized for years as a
discipline whose focus is primarily on facts. Ten and eleven year old children have traditionally been presented
with a sense of history and geography facts that are quickly forgotten. Moreover, children have usually rates
social studies as the subject they like least. Bruner suggests these phenomena might be due to the absence in
present curricula of any attempt to teach the basic structure of the subject. Bruner makes four arguments for the
importance of teaching basic structure:
1. understanding fundamental makes a subject more comprehensible [2. p. 23],
2. the most basic thing that can be said about human memory . . . is that unless detail is placed into a
structured pattern, it is rapidly forgotten" [2, p. 24],
3. an understanding of fundamental principles and ideas . . . appears to be the main road to adequate
transfer of training' " [2, p. 25],
4. the fourth claim for emphasis on structure and principles in teaching is that . . . one is able to
narrow the gap between 'advanced' knowledge and 'elementary' knowledge [2, p. 26].
This pilot study attempted to develop a teaching method that takes into account Bruners suggestions of
focusing on the underlying structure of a subject matter. System dynamics is a method for better understanding
the underlying structure of complex situations. Social studies attempts to help children understand the
complexities of the world. The author theorized that if social studies educational materials were designed to
facilitate teaching a process of problem representation and problem solving, children would then be able to use
this process for understanding more complex issues in both the natural and social sciences. Further, as Bruner
suggests, if children are able to identify the underlying problem structure, facts encountered during study will
more likely be retained.
The author selected Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain [1] as a guide to
measuring the achievement of the elementary school children in this educational experiment. The educational
research literature generally supports Blooms Taxonomy as a guide to the hierarchy of thinking skills [5], [6],
[1O], [12], [13], [ 15]. The fourth and fifth levels of the Taxonomy are congruent with dynamic feedback
systems thinking. Bloom defines these levels as:
Analysis (fourth level) the breakdown of the material into its constituent parts and detection of the
relationships of the parts and of the way they are organized [1. p. 120].
Synthesis (fifth level) the putting together of elements and parts so as to form... a whole [1, p.
162]. Both dimensions of analysis and synthesis, as defined, are essential to Bruners concept of
structuring.
Bloom suggests that to raise a persons s level of thinking, that person must go step by step up the
hierarchical structure of the taxonomy. This would mean starting at the first level, Knowledge (fact
accumulation). Most elementary school teaching materials, especially in the area of social studies. concentrate at
the lower end of the hierarchy of thinking processes, with higher levels of thinking in students not resulting.
The thrust of the authors project, however, coincided more with Bruners philosophy of education: That is, to
develop a strategy for teaching a process to identify underlying structure of social science issues where teaching
effort would be concentrated at what Bloom defines as higher level thinking processes. 3
Dynamic Feedback Systems Strategy
For this study the author developed a social studies unit (a series of topical activities) including a pre-
study unit and a post-study achievement test following Blooms Taxonomy, a computerized World 3 Game,
and two sets of dynamic feedback systems exercises [9] The unit was designed around the focal issues of the
computer game. The game was developed by the author from a dynamic feedback systems computer model [7]
concerned with the current and future problems of worldwide natural resource usage, pollution, food and
population growth. The unit consisted of a series of self-directed activities of a social studies/science nature.
For the unit work the class was divided into four group following the topics of the game: natural resources,
pollution, food and population. In each group the chairman recorded the activities which each person chose to
do. The remainder of the unit was self-directed. The children worked on these activities for eight weeks. At the
conclusion of the unit each group presented its work to the rest of the class by explaining its bulletin board
display, reporting on its research and experiments, and presenting any skits or other oral activities.
During the time of individual unit work, the author worked with small groups of students using the
author