Systems Thinking, Systems Design
Information
Workshop INF1005H, section 0105, Winter 2018, University of
Toronto Faculty of Information
- Official course operations are on Blackboard
Time and place:
Instructor: David
Ing
A. Course objectives
Much of education is organized along disciplinary lines.
Information professionals often work in contexts, where
transdisciplinarity may be better approached with systems
thinking. (Note that it's systems in plural, and not the
singular!)
A.1 What is systems thinking?
Systems thinking is a perspective on parts, wholes and their
relations. It includes
- (i) systems theory (in an intellectual pursuit of episteme
(know why));
- (ii) systems methods (in a pursuit of techne
(know how)); and
- (iii) systems practice (in a pursuit of phronesis
(know when, know where, know whom).
Types of systems in which we might intervene include mechanistic
systems (e.g. machines), biological systems (e.g. plants, animals),
social systems (e.g. human beings) and ecological systems (e.g.
watersheds). The systems sciences have an aim towards a unity of
science, investigating the isomorphy of concepts laws and models in
various fields, helping useful transfers from one field to another.
The emphasis on systems design in this Information Workshop orients
the content towards (ii) systems methods and (iii) systems
practice. In the background is (i) systems theory, which can
be used to "improve" a system of interest as the designer gains more
insight into choices on challenges by stakeholders and the
environment at large.
A.2. What is the goal of the workshop?
With the short six weeks of this Information Workshop, the goal is
familiarize students with a breadth of systems-based methods that
can be applied in the overlapping domains of information
professions. In small teams and in the classroom meetings,
students will sharpen their use of systems terminology, and gain an
appreciation for the variety and diversity of systems approaches.
Each student comes to the class with his or her own disciplinary
lenses. Through dialogue, the class as a whole will engage in
sensemaking exchanges that will broaden the perspective of each
individual.
A.3 What prerequisites are expected?
There are no subject prerequisites for this course. Skills
that will favour success include the capabilities to (i) read
journal articles quickly; (ii) mesh in a small group that will lead
a short discussion for the whole class; (iii) write short personal
appreciation diaries as blog posts; and (iv) express ideas in a
visual medium (i.e. an infographic).
B. Course Learning Outcomes, and Relationship to
Program Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes |
|
Program Learning Outcomes |
- Students will have collectively learned and
individually internalized a systems vocabulary applicable
across physical, biological, social, ecological and
information domains, both for describing phenomena and for
intervening in situations.
|
→ |
- Students understand and are conversant with
fundamental concepts, theories, practices, and the
diverse horizons of information disciplines, and can
respond to changing information practices and needs of
society.
|
- Students will have, (i) in groups, led a classroom
discussion on one systems approach, and (ii) as
individuals, engaged in critical thinking about impacts on
stakeholders and constituents of current systems models
and future designs.
|
→ |
- Students develop knowledge and values appropriate to
their future exercise of economic, cultural, and/or
social leadership, and thereby provide leadership in
defining the social responsibility of information
professionals to provide information services for all,
regardless of age, educational level, or social,
cultural, or ethnic background.
|
- Students will have: (i) as individuals, written
personal appreciation diary logs reflecting their
perspectives on systems research; and (ii) in groups,
produced an infographic visually highlighting systems
concepts and themes resonating with their interests.
|
→ |
- Students develop the ability to contribute through
research and publication, to the continuous expansion
and critical assessment of the body of knowledge
underlying the information and archives sciences.
|
- Students will have been introduced to systemic
perspectives on information, including the design of
inquiring systems, dialogues, and participative
techniques.
|
→ |
- Students develop an understanding of the development
of theory concerning information, where it is found, and
how it is used.
|
- Students will have exercised collaborating online with
visual systems modeling tools.
|
→ |
- Students develop an understanding of the application
of new technological developments to the preservation
and communication of information, and in the
identification of the impact of such developments on
society.
|
- Students will be introduced to the systems thinking
communities open for ongoing learning, meeting locally,
internationally, and over the Internet
|
→ |
- Students continue in life-long intellectual growth
beyond graduation.
|
This workshop is oriented towards experiential learning in groups,
and structured dialectic between individuals.
C. Activities and assessment
Since each group can be seen as a systemic whole, the grading for
the group presentation-facilitations and infographic will be the
uniform for all members. Differentiation amongst individuals
shows up in the written work.
|
Weight
|
Content |
Due |
Group work 50%
|
25% |
Group presentation-facilitation of research reference
cluster (single topic) |
In classes: Jan. 17, 24, 31; Feb. 7
- Presentation materials online by start of class
|
25% |
Group infographic poster and presentation (cumulative for
course) |
In class: Feb. 14
- Infographic poster online by start of class
|
Individual work 50%
|
8% |
Personal appreciation diary log for Day 1 |
Monday, Jan. 15, 9:00 a.m.
|
8% |
Personal appreciation diary log for Day 2 |
Monday, Jan. 22, 9:00 a.m. |
8% |
Personal appreciation diary log for Day 3 |
Monday, Jan. 29, 9:00 a.m. |
8% |
Personal appreciation diary log for Day 4 |
Monday, Feb 5, 9:00 a.m. |
8% |
Personal appreciation diary log for Day 5 |
Monday, Feb 12, 9:00 a.m. |
10% |
Personal concluding appreciation synthesis at Day 6 |
Monday, Feb 19, 9:00 a.m. |
This workshop promotes:
- (i) a high-level understanding of systems methods (amongst the
class of students, as a collective); and
- (ii) an appreciation for systems methods of most relevance (to
an individual).
Learning is encouraged in an co-responsive mode, where all
participants have the opportunity to lead a discussion, and to
critically challenge constructively.
C.1 Group presentation-faciitation of a research reference cluster
For each class, every student should be prepared to actively engage
in discussion.
- Reading in breadth may give a bigger payoff than reading in
depth!
- Budget 2 hours to read selectively from articles for both
research clusters to be covered on Days 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- If you don't like what you're reading, move on!
For parts of Days 2 to 5, each of 8 student groups will present
their understanding of a research cluster, and lead the class in
discussion
- Groups of 3 (or 4) students will be formed on Day 1.
- Budget 4 hours to prepare slides or materials to lead the class,
to include:
- Showing some (2 or 3) system models that demonstrates the gist
of the approach.
- Describing what you perceive are the key ideas of the
approach.
- Projecting why you would (or would not) use this approach
(over another approach).
- Situating when and where would you use (or not use) this
approach.
- Surfacing details about the approach you have found unclear,
and would benefit from deeper inquiry.
- In the timeboxed preparation time, you don't have learn
everything!
- Present what you've figured out, use the collective
intelligence of other class members to extend the knowledge
- Access the instructor as a fallback subject matter expert.
- Target about 1 hour for presentation and facilitation
- Slides and/or materials should be available (online) at the
beginning of the class
- The style to lead the class is at your discretion: more
factual, or more opinionated, or more entertaining
Consensus within each group on interpretations of the research
reference clusters is not necessary.
- Multiple perspectives may be reflected in dialectic (i.e.
exposing shades of grey between black and white).
- Critical thinking on systems ideas is respected.
An early decision on a collaboration tool may accelerate
preparation
- Google
Slides has proven to be useful for rapid artifact
development, allowing both concurrent editing and export to a
variety of formats.
- draw.io,
combined with Google Drive, creates web-friend SVG artifacts.
- Etherpad
Lite or Google
Docs may be helpful in concurrent outlining of text.
- LibreOffice
Draw plays well with LibreOffice Impress,
if you prefer a desktop solution.
- Please be explicit with licensing on your artifacts. The
instructor prefers CC-BY-NC-SA;
otherwise, a copyright requires formal communications for reuse.
There are some sample
presentation slide sets from the February 2016 class at Aalto
University.
- These are examples, not exemplars. The roughness of some
presentation decks may encourage Information Workshop students to
NOT overprepare.
- (Some of those slide decks took advantage of the fancy
three-screen projector at the Aalto University Urban Mill).
C.2 Group infographic poster and presentation
By the conclusion of Day 5, students will have been exposed to a
variety of systems methods.
For Day 6, each group should prepare and present an infographic
poster on their impressions about the system approaches most
relevant to their research.
- Budget 4 hours to prepare the infographic.
- What does systems thinking now mean to you (as compared to the
beginning of the class)?
- Which 2 or 3 approaches most resonated with your group?
- When might you apply these system methods in your research (or
in your life)?
The final artifact should be produced as a web graphic.
- Post PNG files at two scales in Blackboard: 900px wide by
3000px high (computer scrolling size), and 600px wide by 2000px
high (mobile scrolling size).
- SVG format is optionally preferred, and is sometimes too
tricky to be stable.
- On Google Drive, Google Drawings can be set with a custom page
size:
- LibreOffice
Draw exports both SVG and PNG formats, if you prefer a
desktop platform.
- Clip art in SVG format is available from https://openclipart.org and https://publicdomainvectors.org
.
- Photographs under Creative Commons licensing are available at https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
.
- Please be explicit with licensing on your artifacts. The
instructor prefers CC-BY-NC-SA;
otherwise, a copyright requires formal communications for reuse.
There are some sample "Eight infographics from 'Systems Thinking 2
(2016)'" at http://coevolving.com/blogs/index.php/archive/eight-infographics-from-systems-thinking-2-2016/
C.3 Personal appreciation diary logs
After each class, each student will write an personal appreciation
diary logs that tracks individual learning.
- The personal appreciation diary logs can be completed as a
public blog post on the Internet (preferred) or limited to class
participants on Blackboard (less preferred).
- Writing openly in public welcomes comments and responses by a
larger audience who may contribute to your learning.
- Writing an appreciation diary in public requires two
steps: (i) blogging, and (ii) social sharing.
- (i) Blogging is easy. If you already have a blog on
which systems thinking ideas are not inappropriate, you can use
that. If you don't have a blog, you can sign up on
Wordpress at http://wordpress.com
for free. (If you decide that you want to move your
content elsewhere in the future, it's easy to export and migrate
from Wordpress).
- If you enjoy being recognized for your work, link your blog
to your social media channels.
- If you are new to blogging, and don't want to initially
reveal your identity, create a blog with a pseudonym.
- If you wish to keep your blogging strictly within the class,
there is a blogging feature in Blackboard. Other
students (but not the whole world) will be able to respond to
you.
- (ii) Social sharing ensures that your writing is
noticed.
- One place where systems thinkers congregate is on the
Systems Science Community at https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117647110273892799778.
We can have a new thread there for each class day, where you
can append a comment with a one-sentence synopsis that
describes your appreciation blog, and a pasted web link.
Alternatively, you can promote your writing as an independent
new entry.
- If you want to instead leave your notification on
Blackboard, there will be forum entry there, to which you can
respond.
- The writing should reflect ideas that resonated with you,
personally.
- As a blog, the style can be less formal. Write quickly,
and try to NOT overthink. You should target about 45
minutes to complete (if you are a native English speaker).
- Four or five paragraphs (maybe 750 to 1000 words) is
sufficient length.
- Cite 2 or 3 references at the bottom of the entry, and use a
proper citation style. If you're looking for a way to ease
managing references and citiations, try Zotero.
- If you can't think of anything else to write, try these
questions:
- Which 2 or 3 system ideas from today are resonating to change
the way you think (and which ones might remain a mystery)?
- Why are those systems ideas significant in your research, your
work and/or your life?
- Where could you see applying (or avoiding) using these systems
approaches?
- The instructor will leave comments on the blog post, and recap
trends and themes in the class that follows.
- Students are welcomed to leave their comments on each others'
blog posts.
- Samples of blogging and posting are still public from a class
taught at Aalto University in February 2016.
C.4 Individual concluding appreciation synthesis
After Day 6, students will have had the opportunity to discuss
eight approaches to systems methods.
The concluding blog post should reflect a synthesis of the entire
course (not just a single week).
- Target an hour to reflect on the most significant ideas on
systems methods gained over the past 6 weeks.
The grading scheme for all of the work above follows Faculty
of Information scale, (e.g. A+ "truly exceptional work", ... B
"good work", B- "adequate work").
D. Support and accommodation
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this
course. If you have a disability or a health consideration that may
require accommodations, please feel free to approach the instructor
and/or the Accessibility Services Office http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/
as as soon as possible. The Accessibility Services staff are
available by appointment to assess needs, provide referrals and
arrange appropriate accommodations. The sooner you let them and I
know your needs, the quicker we can assist you in achieving your
learning goals in this course.
E. Information about iSchool Workshops
This workshop series is exclusively available to the iSchool
community. iSchool professors, Inforum librarians, current students,
alumni, and a collective of professionals and academics from each
program and concentration, work together to create these unique
rosters.
F. Creative Commons Licensing in
Instructional Setting
Students are permitted to tape-record, photograph, video-record or
otherwise reproduce lecture presentations, course notes and other
similar materials provided by the instructor.