Providence College Students ask re: LO3348:
> Hello. We are Providence College students currently taking a class in
> organizational theory. Right now we are studying Senge's concepts as
> presented in _The Fifth Discipline_. Our goal is to be able to
> demonstrate our knowledge of the basic concepts of systems thinking
> (chapters 1-8). We do not want to do this in a conventional way---one
> representive of the typical educational system--which goes against what we
> have learned thus far. "Learning by doing" is supposed to be fun. We
> need some suggestions as to how this can accomplished in a classroom
> setting without settling for the "quick fix" solution of an exam. We would
> appreciate any help you can give us in this dilemma.
I took a one day systems workshop several years ago. The audience was all
corporate and government. After a short indro to systems thinking we were
asked to draw a viable systems diagram for a specific issue at a given
level in our corporation.
We used the diagrams at the back of _Diagnosing the System for
organizations_ by Stafford Beer, Wiley ISBN 0-471-90675-1
By 11:00 AM we all had basic diagrams worked out. I was surprised how
little time it took.
Your class could do the same thing by inviting someone from a company (VP
or CEO) for half a day, to act as an advisor and provide an issue to
explore. ie one guest per 4-6 students
The company benefits-exposure to a new tool and methodology of systems
thinking and an insight into the problem.
Students benefit-looking at real world problems.
> Please share with us any evaluation techniques that are successful in the
> corporate world that you believe can be applied to our class.
Does your model provide insights to the VP or CEO ? Can it be used as a
basis for possible concept challenges (what do we take for granted about
the system and is this the only way that it can be) ? and for new system
designs ?
> Providence College Students
> Jennifer L. Mulligan
> mulligan@providence.edu
Good Luck
-- Walter Derzko wderzko@epas.utoronto.ca