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Habits of Successful Software Engineers is a series here at Developer Tea and today we'll continue those skills with an episode on system thinking.

Habits of Successful Software Engineers is a series here at Developer Tea and today we'll continue those skills with an episode on system thinking.

Habits of Successful Software Engineers is a series here at Developer Tea and today we'll continue those skills with an episode on system thinking.

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Background: Many full-time Ugandan government health providers take on additional jobs – a phenomenon called dual practice. We describe the complex patterns that characterize the evolution of dual practice in Uganda, and the local management practices that emerged in response, in five government facilities. An in-depth understanding of dual practice can contribute to policy discussions on improving public sector performance. Methods: A multiple case study design with embedded units of analysis was supplemented by interviews with policy stakeholders and a review of historical and policy documents. Five facility case studies captured the perspective of doctors, nurses, and health managers through semi-structured in-depth interviews. A causal loop diagram illustrated interactions and feedback between old and new actors, as well as emerging roles and relationships. Results: The causal loop diagram illustrated how feedback related to dual practice policy developed in Uganda. As opportunities for dual practice grew and the public health system declined over time, government providers increasingly coped through dual practice. Over time, government restrictions to dual practice triggered policy resistance and protest from government providers. Resulting feedback contributed to compromising the supply of government providers and, potentially, of service delivery outcomes. Informal government policies and restrictions replaced the formal restrictions identified in the early phases. In some instances, government health managers, particularly those in hospitals, developed their own practices to cope with dual practice and to maintain public sector performance. Management practices varied according to the health manager’s attitude towards dual practice and personal experience with dual practice. These practices were distinct in hospitals. Hospitals faced challenges managing internal dual practice opportunities, such as those created by externally-funded research projects based within the hospital. Private wings’ inefficiencies and strict fee schedule made them undesirable work locations for providers. Conclusions: Dual practice prevails because public and private sector incentives, non-financial and financial, are complementary. Local management practices for dual practice have not been previously documented and provide learning opportunities to inform policy discussions. Understanding how dual practice evolves and how it is managed locally is essential for health workforce policy, planning, and performance discussions in Uganda and similar settings.

In this episode Joel and Antonia talk about applying Systems Thinking to your romantic relationships. http://www.personalityhacker.com/

In this episode Joel and Antonia talk about applying Systems Thinking to your romantic relationships. http://www.personalityhacker.com/

In this episode Joel and Antonia talk about applying Systems Thinking to your romantic relationships. http://www.personalityhacker.com/

Downloaded from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youtube channel on 2025-02-02 13:20:19 https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q3W3l62jzBo -------- Webinar 2 Focuses on a set of systems-focused “conversation starters” that will help to get you going in applying the TiS approach to systems issues. A case study shows how the approach was used to understand why a public health-focused initiative in a developing country had less than its desired impact. Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html This video can also be viewed at https://www.cdc.gov/wcms/video/low-res/policy/2018/36523652Webinar2ThinkinginSystemsCon.mp4

Downloaded from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youtube channel on 2025-02-02 13:20:19 https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q3W3l62jzBo -------- Webinar 2 Focuses on a set of systems-focused “conversation starters” that will help to get you going in applying the TiS approach to systems issues. A case study shows how the approach was used to understand why a public health-focused initiative in a developing country had less than its desired impact. Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html This video can also be viewed at https://www.cdc.gov/wcms/video/low-res/policy/2018/36523652Webinar2ThinkinginSystemsCon.mp4

One of the challenges facing Malaysia amidst its economic development is the achievement of a critical thinking society. This would enhance and guarantee the success of research and development programs in addition to having other socioeconomic effects. This paper covers the following topics: Vision 2020, Malaysia's goal to reach developed nation status by the year 2020; Malaysia's educational system; the role of the government/educational system, school libraries, teachers and schools, public libraries, parents, and schools of library and information science; methods of achieving a critical thinking society; information literacy and systematic information skills; characteristics of a critical thinker; and recommendations for the educational system, information skills program, curriculum, and research. Two appendices consist of considerations for critical thinking skills for school and classroom management, and a diagram of issues related to the implementation of the information skills program. (Contains 17 references.) (SWC)

This systematic literature review aims to investigate the ways in which systems approaches (e.g., systems thinking, and systems practice) are applied in workplace contexts. This includes consideration of a) the types of approaches that have been applied and their theoretical underpinnings, b) the antecedents (e.g. causes) and consequents (e.g. benefits) of systems approaches, d) the factors that mediate / moderate between systems approaches and workplace contexts, c) approaches that have been taken to measure various manifestations of systems approaches (e.g. leaders' capacity to think in systems).

This is a protocol for a study that aims to develop an evidence-based systems thinking conceptual framework of the interconnections between environmental change and the double burden of malnutrition in low and middle-income countries.

The Marine Corps Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Enterprise (MCISR-E) faces ever-increasing complexity in the conduct of expeditionary operations. This research seeks to explore computer-supported collaborative work of the MCISR-E. Properties of networks and complexity are explored through a systems thinking perspective on collective intelligence. Online social networking information technology is examined for demonstration of emergent knowledge creation for sensemaking in the computer-supported collaborative work of MCISR-E. This is provided through use cases of commercial off the shelf online social networking technology and crowdsourcing applications. Crowdsourcing through social networking technology as it benefits both collaborative information seeking and collaborative filters are suggested as possible fit to the MCISR-E. Use cases demonstrate this fit at the technical, organizational and individual levels. The MCISR-E is a complex adaptive system, designed to raise the collective intelligence of Marine Corps units. Collective intelligence is defined as groups of people doing things intelligently. MCISR-E must effectively demonstrate sensemaking through knowledge creation to achieve this goal. MCISR-E processes must predict and react to events by group work capitalizing on current and new technology.

This project is a scoping review on systems thinking in implementation research frameworks

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Service systems thinking has been proposed as a label that combines (i) systems thinking; (ii) the SSMED (Service Science, Management, Engineering and Design) vision; (iii) the generative pattern language theory underpinning Christopher Alexander's life work; and (iv) multiple perspectives open collaboration enabled through contemporary collaborative Internet technologies such as federated wiki. One motivation for this new thinking is a promise of better service systems in the future. Towards this promise, we propose to learn inductively from the architecting of built environments. An unfolding is a dynamic configuration that acts to generate form. The phenomenon for man-made artifacts is similar to that with plant morphogenesis and embryology. Value is dynamic, with access consciousness ex-ante and ex-post, and phenomenological consciousness in lived experience. Places, spaces and paces trade off between scale, scope, speed and acceleration. As a base case for learning, pattern language and the combining of systems of centers are explored. The building Eishin campus described in Alexander's "The Battle for Life and Beauty on the Earth" is outlined as a way of generating wholeness in practice. Slides are available at http://coevolving.com/commons/20150228-unfolding-values-in-places-spaces-and-paces

This article is from BMC Health Services Research , volume 13 . Abstract Background: The primary bottleneck to achieving the MDGs in low-income countries is health systems that are too fragile to deliver the volume and quality of services to those in need. Strong and effective health systems are increasingly considered a prerequisite to reducing the disease burden and to achieving the health MDGs. Zambia is one of the countries that are lagging behind in achieving millennium development targets. Several barriers have been identified as hindering the progress towards health related millennium development goals. Designing an intervention that addresses these barriers was crucial and so the Better Health Outcomes through Mentorship (BHOMA) project was designed to address the challenges in the Zambia’s MOH using a system wide approach. We applied systems thinking approach to describe the baseline status of the Six WHO building blocks for health system strengthening. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted looking at the status of the Six WHO building blocks for health systems strengthening in three BHOMA districts. We conducted Focus group discussions with community members and In-depth Interviews with key informants. Data was analyzed using Nvivo version 9. Results: The study showed that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks which is an essential element of systems thinking. Challenges noted in service delivery were linked to human resources, medical supplies, information flow, governance and finance building blocks either directly or indirectly. Several barriers were identified as hindering access to health services by the local communities. These included supply side barriers: Shortage of qualified health workers, bad staff attitude, poor relationships between community and health staff, long waiting time, confidentiality and the gender of health workers. Demand side barriers: Long distance to health facility, cost of transport and cultural practices. Participating communities seemed to lack the capacity to hold health workers accountable for the drugs and services. Conclusion: The study has shown that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks. These linkages emphasised the need to use system wide approaches in assessing the performance of health system strengthening interventions.

This article is from BMC Health Services Research , volume 13 . Abstract Background: The primary bottleneck to achieving the MDGs in low-income countries is health systems that are too fragile to deliver the volume and quality of services to those in need. Strong and effective health systems are increasingly considered a prerequisite to reducing the disease burden and to achieving the health MDGs. Zambia is one of the countries that are lagging behind in achieving millennium development targets. Several barriers have been identified as hindering the progress towards health related millennium development goals. Designing an intervention that addresses these barriers was crucial and so the Better Health Outcomes through Mentorship (BHOMA) project was designed to address the challenges in the Zambia’s MOH using a system wide approach. We applied systems thinking approach to describe the baseline status of the Six WHO building blocks for health system strengthening. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted looking at the status of the Six WHO building blocks for health systems strengthening in three BHOMA districts. We conducted Focus group discussions with community members and In-depth Interviews with key informants. Data was analyzed using Nvivo version 9. Results: The study showed that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks which is an essential element of systems thinking. Challenges noted in service delivery were linked to human resources, medical supplies, information flow, governance and finance building blocks either directly or indirectly. Several barriers were identified as hindering access to health services by the local communities. These included supply side barriers: Shortage of qualified health workers, bad staff attitude, poor relationships between community and health staff, long waiting time, confidentiality and the gender of health workers. Demand side barriers: Long distance to health facility, cost of transport and cultural practices. Participating communities seemed to lack the capacity to hold health workers accountable for the drugs and services. Conclusion: The study has shown that building block specific weaknesses had cross cutting effect in other health system building blocks. These linkages emphasised the need to use system wide approaches in assessing the performance of health system strengthening interventions.

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Background: Of the three million newborns that die each year, Uganda ranks fifth highest in neonatal mortality rates, with 43,000 neonatal deaths each year. Despite child survival and safe motherhood programmes towards reducing child mortality, insufficient attention has been given to this critical first month of life. There is urgent need to innovatively employ alternative solutions that take into account the intricate complexities of neonatal health and the health systems. In this paper, we set out to empirically contribute to understanding the causes of the stagnating neonatal mortality by applying a systems thinking approach to explore the dynamics arising from the neonatal health complexity and non-linearity and its interplay with health systems factors, using Uganda as a case study. Methods: Literature reviews and interviews were conducted in two divisions of Kampala district with high neonatal mortality rates with mothers at antenatal clinics and at home, village health workers, community leaders, healthcare decision and policy makers, and frontline health workers from both public and private health facilities. Data analysis and brainstorming sessions were used to develop causal loop diagrams (CLDs) depicting the causes of neonatal mortality, which were validated by local and international stakeholders. Results: We developed two CLDs for demand and supply side issues, depicting the range of factors associated with neonatal mortality such as maternal health, level of awareness of maternal and newborn health, and availability and quality of health services, among others. Further, the reinforcing and balancing feedback loops that resulted from this complexity were also examined. The potential high leverage points include special gender considerations to ensure that girls receive essential education, thereby increasing maternal literacy rates, improved socioeconomic status enabling mothers to keep healthy and utilise health services, improved supervision, and internal audits at the health facilities as well as addressing the gaps in resources (human, logistics, and drugs). Conclusions: Synthesis of theoretical concepts through CLDs facilitated our understanding and interpretation of the interactions and feedback loops that contributed to the stagnant neonatal mortality rates in Uganda, which is the first step towards discussing and exploring the potential strategies and their likely impact.

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Background: Of the three million newborns that die each year, Uganda ranks fifth highest in neonatal mortality rates, with 43,000 neonatal deaths each year. Despite child survival and safe motherhood programmes towards reducing child mortality, insufficient attention has been given to this critical first month of life. There is urgent need to innovatively employ alternative solutions that take into account the intricate complexities of neonatal health and the health systems. In this paper, we set out to empirically contribute to understanding the causes of the stagnating neonatal mortality by applying a systems thinking approach to explore the dynamics arising from the neonatal health complexity and non-linearity and its interplay with health systems factors, using Uganda as a case study. Methods: Literature reviews and interviews were conducted in two divisions of Kampala district with high neonatal mortality rates with mothers at antenatal clinics and at home, village health workers, community leaders, healthcare decision and policy makers, and frontline health workers from both public and private health facilities. Data analysis and brainstorming sessions were used to develop causal loop diagrams (CLDs) depicting the causes of neonatal mortality, which were validated by local and international stakeholders. Results: We developed two CLDs for demand and supply side issues, depicting the range of factors associated with neonatal mortality such as maternal health, level of awareness of maternal and newborn health, and availability and quality of health services, among others. Further, the reinforcing and balancing feedback loops that resulted from this complexity were also examined. The potential high leverage points include special gender considerations to ensure that girls receive essential education, thereby increasing maternal literacy rates, improved socioeconomic status enabling mothers to keep healthy and utilise health services, improved supervision, and internal audits at the health facilities as well as addressing the gaps in resources (human, logistics, and drugs). Conclusions: Synthesis of theoretical concepts through CLDs facilitated our understanding and interpretation of the interactions and feedback loops that contributed to the stagnant neonatal mortality rates in Uganda, which is the first step towards discussing and exploring the potential strategies and their likely impact.

Downloaded from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youtube channel on 2025-02-02 13:19:53 https://youtube.com/watch?v=xD9mITgpGuY -------- Webinar 3 presents two case studies. One, drawn from a student project of the guest instructor of the webinar series, looks at eating disorders among adolescent girls in a small city. The second, drawn from work at CDC, looks at accessibility and affordability of evidence-based treatment for families with young children with behavioral, emotional, and attention disorders. Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html This video can also be viewed at https://www.cdc.gov/wcms/video/low-res/policy/2018/53085308Webinar3ThinkinginSystemsApp.mp4

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Background: New forms of leadership are required to bring about the fundamental health system changes demanded by primary health care (PHC). Using theory about complex adaptive systems and policy implementation, this paper considers how actors’ sensemaking and the exercise of discretionary power currently combine to challenge PHC re-orientation in the South African health system; and provides examples of leadership practices that promote sensemaking and power use in support of PHC. Methods: The paper draws on observational, interview, and reflective data collected as part of the District Innovation and Action Learning for Health Systems Development (DIALHS) project being implemented in Cape Town, South Africa. Undertaken collaboratively between health managers and researchers, the project is implemented through cycles of action-learning, including systematic reflection and synthesis. It includes a particular focus on how local health managers can better support front line facility managers in strengthening PHC. Results: The results illuminate how the collective understandings of staff working at the primary level - of their working environment and changes within it – act as a barrier to centrally-led initiatives to strengthen PHC. Staff often fail to take ownership of such initiatives and experience them as disempowering. Local area managers, located between the centre and the service frontline, have a vital role to play in providing a leadership of sensemaking to mediate these challenges. Founded on personal values, such leadership entails, for example, efforts to nurture PHC-aligned values and mind-sets among staff; build relationships and support the development of shared meanings about change; instil a culture of collective inquiry and mutual accountability; and role-model management practices, including using language to signal meaning. Conclusions: PHC will only become a lived reality within the South African health system when frontline staff are able to make sense of policy intentions and incorporate them into their everyday routines and practices. This requires a leadership of sensemaking that enables front line staff to exercise their collective discretionary power in strengthening PHC. We hope this theoretically-framed analysis of one set of experiences stimulates wider thinking about the leadership needed to sustain primary health care in other settings.

The session was announced at https://wiki.st-on.org/2023-07-10 . # Sciencing and Philosophizing on Threads in Systems Thinking: Tracing through the texture of the socio-technical and socio-ecological perspectives Sciencing can be seen as an ongoing pursuit of better answers. Philosophizing can be seen as a pursuit of better questions. In the history and development of systems thinking, both have coevolved. Gary Metcalf and David Ing are jointly exploring how systems changes may be approached differently via the philosophical history of American pragmatism, and post-colonial (contextural-dyadic) thinking. Gary led a brief in-person session at the ISSS 2023 meeting to introduce the direction. With more time available through a Systems Thinking Ontario session, we can discuss at greater leisure. The presentation slides are attached below. Here is the abstract accepted for the conference -- begin paste abstract -- In the development of systems thinking from the 1950s through the 1990s, strands of an emerging science of systems coevolved with underlying philosophies of science. Collaborations, across the Churchman-Ackoff network in the United States, and the Trist-Emery network in the UK, were largely influenced by traditions in American pragmatism dating back to the 1890s. Branches of philosophy of science underlie practices in action learning, and theories in the systems sciences. Over decades, progress is more explicitly recognized with verbs rather than nouns. Sciencing can be seen as an ongoing pursuit of better answers. Philosophizing can be seen as a pursuit of better questions. The two pursuits coevolve. The socio-psychological perspective was constructed on the structuralist psychology of Gestalt, through Andras Angyal and Kurt Lewin. The other two perspectives can be traced through philosophical strands amongst students of William James. The socio-technical perspective was constructed on the inductive and experimental methods in pragmatism, by C. West Churchman building on Edgar A. Singer. The socio-ecological perspective was constructed on pragmatist metaphilosophy, by Stephen C. Pepper building on Ralph Barton Perry. Although published as 3 volumes in a Tavistock Anthology, the three perspectives on organizational systems reflect current sciencing. Inquiry into the meaning of texture benefits through sweeping in 21st century philosophizing. With processual philosophizing in ecological anthropology, Tim Ingold depicts strands as the lives of lines, and texture in weaving. With the comparative philosophizing of the science of classical Chinese medicine for western audiences, Keekok Lee distinguishes the waning and waxing of yin qi and yang qi, as the intertwining of qi-in-dissipating mode and qi-in-concentrating mode. Through a post-colonial constructionist program of philosophizing Rethinking Systems Thinking, principal concepts of (i) rhythm, (ii) texture, and (ii) propensity have become the core of Systems Changes Learning practices, theory, and methods. Causal texture theory shifted the emphasis from the system of interest to four types of change in the organizational environment. The four types of causal textures can be extended with recognition of qi-in-dissipating and qi-in-concentrating modes. The constructionist philosophy can be applied to the socio-psychological, socio-technical, and socio-ecological perspectives through a variety of contextual-dyadic combinations. The emphasis on systems changes on the sciencing of systems prioritizes a time-space predisposition over a space-time presumption. Conversations on systems thinking accordingly inquire first on rhythmic shifts in textures, and subsequently the defining of systems and boundaries. Systems Changes Learning is a systems approach bridging Western and Chinese philosophizing. -- end paste abstract -- Slides are available at https://wiki.st-on.org/2023-07-10 ## Suggested pre-reading: On American pragmatism: * Louis Menand (2001) The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America [on MacMillan Publishers] [via WorldCat] [preview on Google Books] [podcast with Louis Menand on The Art of Manliness in 2021] [video of C-Span Book Talk with Louis Menand in 2001] On Systems Changes Learning: * David Ing, “Systems Changes Learning: Recasting and reifying rhythmic shifts for doing, alongside thinking and making.” Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics 20 (7): 11–73. https://doi.org/10.54808/JSCI.20.07.11 , cached at http://coevolving.com/commons/2023-02-recasting-and-reifying-rhythmic-shifts On Contextual-Dyadic Thinking: * Digest of web lecture of "2021/06/16 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1" at https://daviding.wordpress.com/2023/04/19/2021-06-16-keekok-lee-philosophy-of-chinese-medicine-1/ * Digest of web lecture of "2021/06/17 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 2" at https://daviding.wordpress.com/2023/04/24/2021-06-17-keekok-lee-philosophy-of-chinese-medicine-2/ .

System thinking, coming from roots in mainstream Western philosophy, tends to orient towards (i) thinking in space,  before (ii) thinking in time.  Structure is an arrangement in space.  Process is an arrangement in time.  A critical systems perspective leads us to think about inclusion within boundaries.  Does this lead us to overlook boundaries in time? Living systems are a subtype of systems in general.  The capability for autonomous movement might lead us towards a philosophy of “becoming with” as “becoming alongside”.  This can lead us towards a challenging shift towards process philosophy. Participants in Systems Thinking Ontario session were invited to discuss, and potentially reframe their view of systems. This session was originally announced at https://wiki.st-on.org/2022-01-10 . Agenda: A. Some Systems Thinking Basics B. Hawk (1999): Change of state vs. State of change C. Ingold (2000): Temporality of the Landscape D. Nayak & Chia (2011): Process Philosophy E. Discussion

System thinking, coming from roots in mainstream Western philosophy, tends to orient towards (i) thinking in space,  before (ii) thinking in time.  Structure is an arrangement in space.  Process is an arrangement in time.  A critical systems perspective leads us to think about inclusion within boundaries.  Does this lead us to overlook boundaries in time? Living systems are a subtype of systems in general.  The capability for autonomous movement might lead us towards a philosophy of “becoming with” as “becoming alongside”.  This can lead us towards a challenging shift towards process philosophy. Participants in Systems Thinking Ontario session were invited to discuss, and potentially reframe their view of systems. This session was originally announced at https://wiki.st-on.org/2022-01-10 . Agenda: A. Some Systems Thinking Basics B. Hawk (1999): Change of state vs. State of change C. Ingold (2000): Temporality of the Landscape D. Nayak & Chia (2011): Process Philosophy E. Discussion

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Reductionism posits that the properties of its parts can explain all traits of a system. While advocating for reductionism, Anderson distinguished it from "constructionism," asserting that while we can reduce everything to fundamental laws, it does not mean we can reconstruct the universe from those laws. Regardless, reductionism has profoundly shaped modern science and education by emphasizing the study of systems through their constituent parts. However, recent decades have seen a growing challenge to reductionism with the concept of "emergence." Emergence suggests that the interactions among system components produce properties that cannot be solely deduced from the properties of those parts. For instance, a water molecule is not "wet," yet a collection of them forms a puddle, which is wet. In essence, the reality is organized in layers, with physical phenomena at different scales largely independent from each other, meaning that the properties of a system’s constituents cannot explain the system’s properties, i.e., “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Systems Thinking embodies the shift from reductionism to emergence, and scientists have advocated for its incorporation in various scientific fields for some time. A systems thinking approach in chemistry education views chemical concepts and phenomena as interconnected components within a larger system. This approach encourages students to understand these interactions within a broader context. This approach is crucial for addressing complex issues like climate change, which require an integrated understanding of chemical processes. Despite its importance, Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education (STICE) remained relatively underapplied and under-researched until late 2019, when it started rapidly growing after this Journal issued a call for papers to integrate STICE and reimagine chemistry.10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 Sir Ian Chalmers argued that we live in a world where the utility of almost any intervention is tested repeatedly and that the entire body of evidence should be examined rather than relying on any single study in isolation before deciding on its efficacy.16, 17 In the context of STICE, several relevant review articles exist, including a scoping review18, a literature review19, several qualitative content analysis20, 21, 22 and some other types of reviews, 11, 23, 24 among others. However, none provide a systematic synthesis of all pertinent literature. Cooper et al. emphasized that determining whether a new review is justified is essential before launching one.25 Currently, no systematic reviews on Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education (STICE) exist, underscoring the necessity of one to provide a comprehensive understanding of the field, consolidate existing knowledge, and more effectively guide future research and educational practices. Therefore, we decided to address this literature gap by conducting a rapid review, a streamlined form of systematic review that maintains rigorous standards but reduces the resource investment needed.26 RESEARCH QUESTIONS A. What arguments have the authors mentioned for implementing STICE? If authors referenced reasonings from other fields, we will include them. This review will focus exclusively on chemistry education literature. B. What potential drawbacks have been identified, and what potential solutions have been put forward? C. What kind of work has been done in the STICE field, and what were their findings? Findings will be categorized and summarized to create an overall narrative. D. What literature gap has been identified by the authors? What literature gaps remain after analyzing the selected pieces? E. What is the future direction of STICE mentioned by the authors?

Systems thinking has significant potential to improve nutrition interventions. Several studies have investigated the use of systems thinking in nutrition, with a predominant focus on obesity in high-income countries. Unlike previous reviews, this review examines systems thinking applications for any nutrition intervention, with a specific focus on Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asia region faces the fastest-growing rates of overnutrition globally while also experiencing high endemic levels of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. Understanding current research, practice, and discourse in this region is crucial for developing culturally relevant and effective recommendations to address malnutrition in all its forms. This review explores current applications of systems thinking in addressing all forms of malnutrition in LMICs in Southeast Asia. Its specific objectives are to (1) explore how systems thinking or approaches have been defined, introduced, promoted, applied, and reported in the development, implementation, or evaluation of nutrition interventions in LMICs in Southeast Asia.; (2) identify and assess published evidence regarding the benefits or effects of systems thinking or approaches in addressing any form of malnutrition in Southeast Asian LMICs.; and (3) identify gaps or variations in the understanding, definition, application, and reporting of systems thinking or approaches in relation to nutrition interventions across different Southeast Asian LMICs, different forms of malnutrition and different population groups.

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Background: Assuring equitable universal access to essential health services without exposure to undue financial hardship requires adequate resource mobilization, efficient use of resources, and attention to quality and responsiveness of services. The way providers are paid is a critical part of this process because it can create incentives and patterns of behaviour related to supply. The objective of this work was to describe provider behaviour related to supply of health services to insured clients in Ghana and the influence of provider payment methods on incentives and behaviour. Methods: A mixed methods study involving grey and published literature reviews, as well as health management information system and primary data collection and analysis was used. Primary data collection involved in-depth interviews, observations of time spent obtaining service, prescription analysis, and exit interviews with clients. Qualitative data was analysed manually to draw out themes, commonalities, and contrasts. Quantitative data was analysed in Excel and Stata. Causal loop and cause tree diagrams were used to develop a qualitative explanatory model of provider supply incentives and behaviour related to payment method in context. Results: There are multiple provider payment methods in the Ghanaian health system. National Health Insurance provider payment methods are the most recent additions. At the time of the study, the methods used nationwide were the Ghana Diagnostic Related Groupings payment for services and an itemized and standardized fee schedule for medicines. The influence of provider payment method on supply behaviour was sometimes intuitive and sometimes counter intuitive. It appeared to be related to context and the interaction of the methods with context and each other rather than linearly to any given method. Conclusions: As countries work towards Universal Health Coverage, there is a need to holistically design, implement, and manage provider payment methods reforms from systems rather than linear perspectives, since the latter fail to recognize the effects of context and the between-methods and context interactions in producing net effects.

This action research case study was intended to qualitatively determine how system thinking and system dynamics modeling informed regional strategic planning and to derive a grounded theory based upon data collected during the Steinbeck Innovation Cluster strategic planning process. Three areas of previous research were investigated: systems, complexity, networks and system dynamics; strategic planning; and industrial clusters. The grounded theory that emerged from my research is that: System thinking and the use of small, system dynamics models can enhance the awareness of decision and policy makers by clarifying dynamic complexity and structure/behavior relationships and may contribute to collaborative, cross-sectoral effort that diminishes the pitfalls of policy resistance in regional strategic planning. This study contributes to each of the three areas of research already mentioned by addressing perceived gaps at the intersection of systems theory, theories of sustainable cluster development, and theories of strategic planning. Furthermore, this study builds upon previous attempts to evaluate the impact of system dynamics modeling on mental models by qualitatively evaluating pre- and post-intervention responses of actual regional strategic planners from three organizational cross-sectors that included the private sector, the non-profit sector, and the government or civic sector.

This article discusses the contributions to this special issue of "Teacher Education Quarterly." At the core of all the contributions is the compellingly urgent realization that humanity is facing, and must deal with, enormous ecological and social problems and challenges. This situation has created an urgent and compelling need centered on how the future citizenry of the industrialized West will be prepared relative to addressing and dealing with these problems and challenges. As is pointed out by the authors in this special issue, science and technology--in and of themselves--cannot save humanity from the impending environmental disaster now closing in on it. What is required at this juncture in history is a transformation of a particular way of life that has resulted in planetary degradation and the wholesale destruction of natural environments and entire species. What is required is a fundamental transformation in support of the development of a new paradigm, a new lens through which the Western mind can adjust its view of society, education and learning, citizenship, and the nature of human habitation on Earth. There is no doubt that formal education has a role to play in this transformation from the standpoint of important shifts in broad cultural and individual attitudes and intellectual orientations. It is also clear that these shifts in attitudes and orientations are of critical importance because modern industrial-capitalist market economies carry value systems with them that tend to undercut forces and values associated with sustainable socio-economic structures and related principles of ecological intelligence. It is posited by the authors in this issue that modern industrial-capitalist market economic systems are not sustainable over the long-term and that this casts doubt on the survivability of the Western industrial civilizations tied to them--especially in light of the anachronistic intellectual tradition that currently shapes the world view of the industrialized West. They advance the idea that formal education is capable of exploring foundational social, cultural, and economic issues associated with the conceptual framework that currently dominates the American scene, as well as raising questions about the future of these deeply embedded--and now dangerously outdated--structural paradigms of Western civilization. They propose that the Western world needs a new cognitive and epistemological approach appropriate to a new time in history. This includes a 21st century educational structure that matches 21st century physical realities.

This article discusses the contributions to this special issue of "Teacher Education Quarterly." At the core of all the contributions is the compellingly urgent realization that humanity is facing, and must deal with, enormous ecological and social problems and challenges. This situation has created an urgent and compelling need centered on how the future citizenry of the industrialized West will be prepared relative to addressing and dealing with these problems and challenges. As is pointed out by the authors in this special issue, science and technology--in and of themselves--cannot save humanity from the impending environmental disaster now closing in on it. What is required at this juncture in history is a transformation of a particular way of life that has resulted in planetary degradation and the wholesale destruction of natural environments and entire species. What is required is a fundamental transformation in support of the development of a new paradigm, a new lens through which the Western mind can adjust its view of society, education and learning, citizenship, and the nature of human habitation on Earth. There is no doubt that formal education has a role to play in this transformation from the standpoint of important shifts in broad cultural and individual attitudes and intellectual orientations. It is also clear that these shifts in attitudes and orientations are of critical importance because modern industrial-capitalist market economies carry value systems with them that tend to undercut forces and values associated with sustainable socio-economic structures and related principles of ecological intelligence. It is posited by the authors in this issue that modern industrial-capitalist market economic systems are not sustainable over the long-term and that this casts doubt on the survivability of the Western industrial civilizations tied to them--especially in light of the anachronistic intellectual tradition that currently shapes the world view of the industrialized West. They advance the idea that formal education is capable of exploring foundational social, cultural, and economic issues associated with the conceptual framework that currently dominates the American scene, as well as raising questions about the future of these deeply embedded--and now dangerously outdated--structural paradigms of Western civilization. They propose that the Western world needs a new cognitive and epistemological approach appropriate to a new time in history. This includes a 21st century educational structure that matches 21st century physical realities.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how systems thinking contributes to decision making in uncertain contexts that are characteristic of service systems. Based on the assumption that service systems face complex conditions, the paper posits that systems thinking may support the understanding of key issues in the management of service systems. 

Immanuel Wallerstein's world-systems theory can help to better understand and describe developments of the 21st century. The contributors address the possibilities to reread Wallerstein's theoretical thoughts and ideas that are related to different disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. The presented interdisciplinary approach of this anthology thereby intends to highlight the broader value of Wallerstein's ideas, even almost five decades after the famous sociologist and economic historian first expressed them.

Downloaded from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youtube channel on 2025-02-02 13:20:39 https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tbz1JsCGwbQ -------- Webinar 1 introduces fundamental elements of the TiS toolset. You’ll learn a bit more about systems issues, and you learn how TiS can address some of the challenges with systems issues. You’ll have the opportunity to work with us to create a simple map of a real public health issue. And you’ll learn about some low-investment ways to develop your skills in TiS. Comments on this video are allowed in accordance with our comment policy: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/CommentPolicy.html This video can also be viewed at https://www.cdc.gov/video/policy/Webinar1ThinkinginSystemsWeb.mp4

We know that most people are not well informed about politics. However, some of them use shortcuts to make better decisions with less information. One of those shortcuts in multiparty systems is grouping parties into blocks (Hagevi 2015). However, we do not know if and how citizens group parties into blocks in more complex system where coalitions are independent from the government and change from vote to vote. This is, for example, the case in Switzerland where all major parties agreed to include all of them in the government. Therefore, coalitions do not depend on the government but on the policy. Gaining a better understanding of block thinking helps us to better understand how people decide in a complex information environment. I show that issue salience is an important determinant in block thinking in coalition-by-policy systems in the way that the most salient issue helps people group parties into in favor and against. My research design focuses on the ideal type Switzerland. It is an ideal type, because there are a lot of parties without a changing government coalition. The results, however, have broader implications such as for multiparty presidential systems were coalitions change. I test my theoretical considerations with an experiment by priming issue salience.

Systems thinking is a useful approach to realizing and analyzing real-world phenomena. It helps us to study components of a system jointly rather than individually. In this regard, organizations need systems thinking to strengthen their holistic inclusiveness because it aids managers examine structures, patterns, and events about each other and not just observing events. Even though applications of systems thinking have been the center of scholars' attention, barriers, and factors that cause organizations to impair systems thinking have not appropriately been addressed and have been paid less attention. The passage of six decades of systems thinking as a theoretical-practical approach implies that it is appropriate that the field of growth and promotion of this effective thinking in the management of society and organization are given more attention by managers and decision-makers. Therefore, this study has been carried out to identify and analyze the barriers to systems thinking in Iranian organizations using the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) technique. This method is one of the system analysis methods and examines the interactions between system elements. In this study, after a comprehensive review of the research literature, 64 factors were extracted, combined as much as possible, and finally, the identified barriers were reduced to 7 categories. The results of the ISM model divided these 7 categories of factors (general barriers) into three levels of importance and effectiveness. Organizational, cultural, financial, educational, and personality factors were at the first level of influence. The mental factor took the second position, and the information factor took the third place. It can be mentioned that the managers should pay special attention to 5 factors in the first level as they are the most effective factors that concentration on them can lead to successful systems thinking in organizations.

Systems thinking is a useful approach to realizing and analyzing real-world phenomena. It helps us to study components of a system jointly rather than individually. In this regard, organizations need systems thinking to strengthen their holistic inclusiveness because it aids managers examine structures, patterns, and events about each other and not just observing events. Even though applications of systems thinking have been the center of scholars' attention, barriers, and factors that cause organizations to impair systems thinking have not appropriately been addressed and have been paid less attention. The passage of six decades of systems thinking as a theoretical-practical approach implies that it is appropriate that the field of growth and promotion of this effective thinking in the management of society and organization are given more attention by managers and decision-makers. Therefore, this study has been carried out to identify and analyze the barriers to systems thinking in Iranian organizations using the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) technique. This method is one of the system analysis methods and examines the interactions between system elements. In this study, after a comprehensive review of the research literature, 64 factors were extracted, combined as much as possible, and finally, the identified barriers were reduced to 7 categories. The results of the ISM model divided these 7 categories of factors (general barriers) into three levels of importance and effectiveness. Organizational, cultural, financial, educational, and personality factors were at the first level of influence. The mental factor took the second position, and the information factor took the third place. It can be mentioned that the managers should pay special attention to 5 factors in the first level as they are the most effective factors that concentration on them can lead to successful systems thinking in organizations.

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease that was first recognized in China in late 2019. Among the primary effects caused by the pandemic, there was the dissemination of health preventive measures such as physical distancing, travel restrictions, self-isolation, quarantines, and facility closures. This includes the global disruption of socio-economic systems including the postponement or cancellation of various public events (e.g., sporting, cultural, or religious), supply shortages and fears of the same, schools and universities closure, evacuation of foreign citizens, a rise of unemployment, changes in the international aid schemes, misinformation, and incidents of discrimination toward people affected by or suspected of having the COVID-19 disease. The pandemic has brought to the fore unpreparedness in critical areas that require attention, amid prospects and challenges. Moreover, considerable reorganization efforts are required with implications for assets, resources, norms, and value systems. COVID-19 is challenging the concept of globalization and stimulating responses at the levels of local and regional socio-economic systems that lead to the mobilization of assets that have been unrecognized earlier on, such as various forms of economic capital, social capital, cultural capital, human capital, and creative capital. For example, through digital channels, local groups are forming to create schemes of support for physical and mental wellbeing. These emerging exchanges lead to various social and technological innovations by building on skills and assets that are less important in the free-market economy, such as empathy, skills for crafts, making and fixing; locally grown microgreens; and micromanufacturing. Isolation and local living are also making it much harder to ignore the civic responsibilities towards communities, meant as individuals, vulnerable groups, and local businesses. Whilst the pandemic is limiting physical participation, this challenging time is uncovering alternative ways of mutual support, which may create long-term benefits for socio-economic systems, including environmental and biodiversity protection, reduction of the air pollution, and climate action. The pandemic’s threat to public health will hopefully be overcome with implications for disruption for an extended period that we are unable to forecast at this stage. It is key to focus on studies recognizing the activities and interventions leading to the recovery of socio-economic systems after the pandemic. Reflecting and planning on how societies and economies will go back to “business as usual” requires new forms of communication and cooperation, imaginative design thinking, new styles of management, as well as new tools and forms of participation in various public policies. Many questions related to the care of the vulnerable, economic restart, and the risk of future pandemics, to mention but a few, are already occupying the academic, scientific, experts, and activist communities, who have started to imagine the “new normal.”

This study presents the stories of four urban middle school principals engaged in reform that is grounded on the core principle that every early adolescent has the capacity for high-level intellectual development. Data collected over two years through formal interviews and informal conversations with principals and teachers, school and district surveys and reports, student test data, and personal observations were analyzed from a systems thinking theoretcial framework to assess each principal's ability to implement reform that produced sustainable results. --Abstract

The body of research examining students' graphing understandings across STEM fields indicates students are not developing productive meanings for graphs. We conjecture such failings may, in part, be explainable by features of students' use of coordinate systems and graphing activity that are under examined. In this theoretical report, we present a conceptual analysis of different ways students may reason about graphs and coordinate systems. Specifically, we describe two different uses of coordinate systems--spatial and quantitative--students might leverage and two ways of reasoning--static and emergent--students might engage in as they construct or interpret graphs. We characterize how a student may engage in each kind of reasoning in each use of coordinate system. We intend this paper to serve as a theoretical lens for future empirical studies examining students' developing graphing understandings. [For the complete proceedings, see ED606531.]

Computer mediated communication (CMC) offers new opportunities for learners to create communities of inquiry that allow for more active learning. This paper reports on the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) as a tool to facilitate students' writing and critical thinking skills. The primary data for the study came from students' online learning records and from discussion forum postings in the LMS. It was found that students' motivation to learn was at a high level. Most importantly, student motivation was positively correlated with their learning behavior. Although male and female students did not differ in their motivation and learning behavior, messages in the writing forum indicated that female students had higher critical thinking skills than male students. "Explaining" messages appeared the most often, while "interpreting" messages appeared the least. The process of text-based online discussion in the forum had the potential to enhance the students' writing skills, encourage their critical thinking, and help them write more systematically. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Computer mediated communication (CMC) offers new opportunities for learners to create communities of inquiry that allow for more active learning. This paper reports on the use of a Learning Management System (LMS) as a tool to facilitate students' writing and critical thinking skills. The primary data for the study came from students' online learning records and from discussion forum postings in the LMS. It was found that students' motivation to learn was at a high level. Most importantly, student motivation was positively correlated with their learning behavior. Although male and female students did not differ in their motivation and learning behavior, messages in the writing forum indicated that female students had higher critical thinking skills than male students. "Explaining" messages appeared the most often, while "interpreting" messages appeared the least. The process of text-based online discussion in the forum had the potential to enhance the students' writing skills, encourage their critical thinking, and help them write more systematically. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Given the increasing use of systems methodologies to generate solutions to complex problems in healthcare delivery, a synthesis of the methods used to apply systems thinking in this context is needed, to aid researchers and policymakers in designing future studies. A detailed review of the extent of systems thinking approaches and their application to healthcare delivery problems is needed. This scoping review will describe and classify different types of systems thinking methodologies applied in research on healthcare delivery. The review will examine principles that guide different systems thinking methodologies, the purpose and rationale for choosing different systems-approaches, and identify considerations needed when conducting systems thinking studies and reporting findings. Increasing understanding in these areas can inform how health professionals address complex problems in health service delivery.

In The Name of Allah, The Entirely Merciful The Especially Merciful This is a book about Systems Thinking In Practice- it is taken partly from; Systems theory ( the  interdisciplinary   study of  systems , i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent parts...A system may be more than the sum of its parts...[Wikipedia]). It has been Islamised to fit in the light of Orthodox Islam - by the will of Allah I have purposely kept it short, for brief reading.

In The Name of Allah, The Entirely Merciful The Especially Merciful This is a book about Systems Thinking In Practice- it is taken partly from; Systems theory ( the  interdisciplinary   study of  systems , i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent parts...A system may be more than the sum of its parts...[Wikipedia]). It has been Islamised to fit in the light of Orthodox Islam - by the will of Allah I have purposely kept it short, for brief reading.

In The Name of Allah, The Entirely Merciful The Especially Merciful This is a book about Systems Thinking In Practice- it is taken partly from; Systems theory ( the  interdisciplinary   study of  systems , i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent parts...A system may be more than the sum of its parts...[Wikipedia]). It has been Islamised to fit in the light of Orthodox Islam - by the will of Allah I have purposely kept it short, for brief reading.

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Introduction: This paper presents a system dynamics computer simulation model to illustrate unintended consequences of apparently rational allocations to curative and preventive services. Methods: A modeled population is subject to only two diseases. Disease A is a curable disease that can be shortened by curative care. Disease B is an instantly fatal but preventable disease. Curative care workers are financed by public spending and private fees to cure disease A. Non-personal, preventive services are delivered by public health workers supported solely by public spending to prevent disease B. Each type of worker tries to tilt the balance of government spending towards their interests. Their influence on the government is proportional to their accumulated revenue. Results: The model demonstrates effects on lost disability-adjusted life years and costs over the course of several epidemics of each disease. Policy interventions are tested including: i) an outside donor rationally donates extra money to each type of disease precisely in proportion to the size of epidemics of each disease; ii) lobbying is eliminated; iii) fees for personal health services are eliminated; iv) the government continually rebalances the funding for prevention by ring-fencing it to protect it from lobbying.The model exhibits a “spend more get less” equilibrium in which higher revenue by the curative sector is used to influence government allocations away from prevention towards cure. Spending more on curing disease A leads paradoxically to a higher overall disease burden of unprevented cases of disease B. This paradoxical behavior of the model can be stopped by eliminating lobbying, eliminating fees for curative services, and ring-fencing public health funding. Conclusions: We have created an artificial system as a laboratory to gain insights about the trade-offs between curative and preventive health allocations, and the effect of indicative policy interventions. The underlying dynamics of this artificial system resemble features of modern health systems where a self-perpetuating industry has grown up around disease-specific curative programs like HIV/AIDS or malaria. The model shows how the growth of curative care services can crowd both fiscal and policy space for the practice of population level prevention work, requiring dramatic interventions to overcome these trends.

This article is from Health Research Policy and Systems , volume 12 . Abstract Background: Although there is widespread agreement that strong district manager decision-making improves health systems, understanding about how the design and implementation of capacity-strengthening interventions work is limited. The Ghana Health Service has adopted the Leadership Development Programme (LDP) as one intervention to support the development of management and leadership within district teams. This paper seeks to address how and why the LDP ‘works’ when it is introduced into a district health system in Ghana, and whether or not it supports systems thinking in district teams. Methods: We undertook a realist evaluation to investigate the outcomes, contexts, and mechanisms of the intervention. Building on two working hypotheses developed from our earlier work, we developed an explanatory case study of one rural district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Data collection included participant observation, document review, and semi-structured interviews with district managers prior to, during, and after the intervention. Working backwards from an in-depth analysis of the context and observed short- and medium-term outcomes, we drew a causal loop diagram to explain interactions between contexts, outcomes, and mechanisms. Results: The LDP was a valuable experience for district managers and teams were able to attain short-term outcomes because the novel approach supported teamwork, initiative-building, and improved prioritisation. However, the LDP was not institutionalised in district teams and did not lead to increased systems thinking. This was related to the context of high uncertainty within the district, and hierarchical authority of the system, which triggered the LDP’s underlying goal of organisational control. Conclusions: Consideration of organisational context is important when trying to sustain complex interventions, as it seems to influence the gap between short- and medium-term outcomes. More explicit focus on systems thinking principles that enable district managers to better cope with their contexts may strengthen the institutionalisation of the LDP in the future.

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