Introduction to Systems Thinking

• In Event: Systems Thinking Approaches to Learning and Assessment Design

Abstract

Presenter 1 will provide an overview of ST and its potential applicability to learning and assessment—a system for learning (SFL).
Kauffman (1980) defined a system as “a collection of parts which interact with each other to function as a whole” (p. 4). Similarly, Kaufman (1988) defines a system as “an interdependent group of items forming a unified pattern” (p. X). A definition of an SFL would build on these definitions of a system but also emphasize the goal-directed nature of an SFL.

This definition implies a system perspective or the adoption of Systems Thinking (ST). ST means being able to see the underlying web of ongoing, reciprocal relationships which are cycling to produce the patterns of behavior that a system is exhibiting. ST means being able to see the forest for the trees.
A number of obstacles impede educators from adopting ST. First, people may find it difficult to break from their personal frame of reference, which includes assumptions about causes and effects and about what is foreground and what is background. People find it difficult to step back from their own stand of trees and see the larger forest. Second, people tend to focus on objects and activities. People focus on tests, on materials and on training sessions. But the core of ST is the set of latent relationships among objects, which ST makes explicit. Third, people tend to define boundaries around areas of expertise and authority. But ST cuts across disciplinary and organizational boundaries. ST asks how the web of interdependent relationships across boundaries is creating the effects. ST can create "turf issues" by challenging the boundaries defining expertise and authority.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of encouraging ST for educators is recognition of the need for coherence. Pellegrino et al. (2001) warned that the three elements comprising the assessment triangle (target of inference, observation and interpretation) must be explicitly coordinated during assessment design and development or the validity of the inferences drawn from the assessment will be compromised. We use the label “coherent” for assessment design and development in which the three elements of the assessment triangle are coordinated. Borrowing from system coherence described by the National Research Council (2012), we distinguish between horizontal coherence and developmental coherence. Horizontal coherence is created when all the components of assessment design and development are aligned with the theories of learning in which the targets of inference are embedded. Developmental coherence is created by a shared understanding of the nature of the targets of inference across time as design and development activities unfold.

But assessment design and development is a complex process involving teams of professionals employing various tools during a number of activities, often unfolding simultaneously. Furthermore, states, districts and schools are being asked to implement broad and coherent systems of assessment, instruction and professional development, which places new and possibly overwhelming requirements on staff. Maintaining coherence requires a design and development approach that explicitly coordinates the targets of inference, observation and interpretation.

Author

• Paul D. Nichols, ACT, Inc.