Systems thinking: critical thinking skills for the 1990s and beyond

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132 System Dynamics Review Volume 9 Number 2 Summer 1993why people trying to learn this framework often go on overload. Whenthese tracks are explicitly organized, and separate attention is paid todevelop each skill, the resulting bite-sized pieces make the fare much moredigestible. We've found that explicitly separating these seven tracks, thenattending to skill development in each, greatly increases learningproductivity.SummaryThe connections among the various physical, social, and ecologicalsubsystems that make up our reality are tightening. There is indeed lessand less "away," both spatially and temporally, to throw things into.Unfortunately, the evolution of our thinking capabilities has not kept pacewith this growing level of interdependence. The consequence is that theproblems we now face are stubbornly resistant to our interventions. To"get back into the foot race," we will need to coherently evolve oureducational system along three dimensions: educational process, thinkingparadigm, and learning tools. At the nexus of these three threads is alearner-directed learning process in which students will usecomputer-based learning environments to build their intuition and understandingof complex interdependent systems by participating in virtualreality experiences. One of the principal barriers to this exciting prospect isthe currently limited capacity for transferring the systems thinkingframework to educators and their students. By viewing systems thinkingwithin the broader context of critical thinking skills, and by recognizingthe multidimensional nature of the thinking skills involved in systemsthinking, we can greatly reduce the time it takes for people to apprehendthis framework. As this framework increasingly becomes the contextwithin which we think, we will gain much greater leverage in addressingthe pressing issues that await us in the 1990s. The time is now!ReferencesDiehl, E. W. 1990. MicroWorlds Creator 2.0. MicroWorlds, Inc., 47Third St. #200, Cambridge, MA 02141, U.S.A.Draper, F., and M. Swanson. 1990. Learner-Directed Systems Education:A Successful Example. System Dynamics Review 6(2): 209-213.Meadows, D. H. 1982. Whole Earth Models and Systems. TheCoEvolution Quarterly (summer): 98-108.Peterson, S. 1990. A User's Guide to STELLAStack. 2d ed. HighPerformance Systems, 45 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755,U.S.A.
Richmond: Systems Thinking 133Richardson, G. P. 1982. Problems with Causal-Loop Diagrams. SystemDynamics Review 2(2): 158-170. Original paper 1976.Richmond, B. 1985. Designing Effective Policy: A ConceptualFoundation. Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College,Hanover, NH, 03755, U.S.A.Richmond, B., S. Peterson, and P. Vescuso. 1987. An Academic User'sGuide to STELLA. High Performance Systems.Roberts, N., D. F. Andersen, R. M. Deal, M. S. Garet, and W. A.Shaffer. 1983. Introduction to Computer Simulation: A SystemDynamics Modeling Approach. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.
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