Prototype Goals and Questions

How would Systems Thinking modules fit into a course schedule alongside existing course material?

Prototype Description

Instructor revises an existing course calendar or develops a new one that includes their desired Systems Thinking activity

Example Outcomes

Coming soon!

Prototype Goals and Questions

How would a Systems Thinking module fit into a particular day's class activities?

Prototype Description

Instructor revises an existing daily lesson plan or develops a new one that includes their desired Systems Thinking activity

Example Outcomes

Coming soon!

Prototype Goals and Questions

• What are students' initial impressions of their learning after a Systems Thinking module?

• What is confusing to students after the activity?

Prototype Description

Students complete an exit ticket in the last 5 minutes of class to reflect on the class and/or respond to instructor prompts. Exit tickets can be distributed as handouts or in LMS software.

Example Exit Ticket Questions

• Rate your understanding of today's material (3: Could explain to a classmate; 2: Could partially explain to a classmate; 1: Unsure if could explain to a classmate; 0: Feeling lost)

• 3-5 sentence free write on a prompt:

  • How did today's Systems Thinking activity connect with the rest of the course for you?

  • What is one thing you want to tell me about how today's class went?

Example Outcomes

Coming soon!

Prototype Goals and Questions

• Where is there agreement and excitement between faculty on motivations for curricular change?

• Where is there disagreement that could be discussed?

Prototype Description

For a department-level change initiative, faculty complete a survey asking about:

• Their enthusiasm for different change drivers (e.g. ""Collaboration with Colleagues"" and ""Meeting a Workforce Need"")

• Their concerns (e.g. ""Faculty workload"" and ""Teaching outside areas of training"")

• Their comfort teaching about Social, Environmental, and Ethical impacts and/or Systems Thinking

• How high-priority of a change incorporating Social, Environmental, and Ethical impacts is for them

Example Faculty Survey Questions

Motivation: In the context of engineering curricular changes focused on social, environmental, and ethical impacts, how exciting do you find each of the following factors? (5-point Likert Scale: Not At All Excited to Very Excited)

• Collaboration with colleagues within the department

• Collaboration with colleagues outside the department

• Collaboration with colleagues outside the institution

• Collaboration with students

• Meeting a societal need

• Meeting an engineering workforce need

• Having shared language and process for teaching about these topics

• Opportunity to be creative

• Opportunity to learn new pedagogies 

• Opportunity to share and export curricular innovations

• Alignment with institution mission

• Alignment with department mission, vision, and values

• Alignment with professional codes and standards (e.g., ABET, professional society codes)

Please share anything else you find exciting that we didn't list above

Concerns: In the context of engineering curricular changes focused on social, environmental, and ethical impacts, how concerning or limiting do you find each of the following factors? (5-point Likert Scale: Not at All Concerning or Limiting to Very Concerning or Limiting)

• Faculty workload

• Student workload

• Fitting changes into an existing course

• Determining what would align well with other course material

• Your knowledge of how to teach about these topics

• Using systems thinking as the approach to teach these topics

• Your comfort talking about these topics with students

• Your comfort talking about these topics with colleagues

• Student reception

Please share any other concerns or limitations that we didn't list above

Example Outcomes

• Within our research team, we used survey responses to facilitate internal discussion in department meetings

• Developed Faculty Lunch & Learn session to build faculty familiarity with Systems Thinking concepts

Prototype Goals and Questions

What additional background do faculty need to apply Systems Thinking in their courses?

Prototype Description

Lunch and learn content included:

• An overview of core Systems Thinking competencies

• Practice interpreting a system map

• Small group discussion of questions about Systems Thinking

Example Outcomes

Coming Soon!

Prototype Goals and Questions

• What do students find motivating when using the Systems Thinking Framework?

• How clear are the prompts and directions in a Systems Thinking module?

Prototype Description

Student focus groups can be used at multiple stages while developing a new course activity.

Early-Stage Focus Group

Invite a small group of students (5-10) to share their learning goals, as well as contexts and applications for learning that they find motivating and relevant. Intentionally recruit students who will bring a broad range of prior academic experiences and future professional aspirations.

Later-Stage Focus Group

Invite a small group of students (5-10) to test an example Systems Thinking Framework activity and give their feedback, either through discussion or a feedback survey.

Example Outcomes

• Coming soon!

Prototype Goals and Questions

Low-stakes feedback for faculty teaching new material outside their formal training or usual teaching comfort zone

Prototype Description

Faculty member conducts a 5 minute lesson with at least one peer observer using part of their Systems Thinking module or an abbreviated activity

Example Outcomes

Coming Soon!