Improving system dynamics teaching using online surveys and exercises

Thesis (M. Eng. and S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 50).As the world becomes increasingly connected, traditional problem solving and decision-making skills becomes less effective. Complex systems found in nature and society exhibit long time delays between cause and effect, feedback, and non-linearity making it difficult to reason effectively about system behavior. Recent studies have shown even highly educated graduate students lack basic systems thinking skills indicating a need for improved system dynamics education. This paper describes the development of a two new tools for improving system dynamics education: a stock-flow simulator that allows users to experiment with simple stock-flow systems, and a web application framework for building system dynamics surveys. This framework is used to build a survey capable of evaluating systems thinking skills and compare the effectiveness of online teaching methods.by Nicholas A. Behrens.M.Eng.and S.B

Toward Realism in Human Performance Simulation

This chapter focuses on challenges to improving the realism of socially intelligent agents and attempts to reflect the state of the art in human behavior modeling with particular attention to the impact of values, emotion, and physiology/stress upon individual and group decision-making. The goal is to help those interested in constructing more realistic software agents for use in human performance simulations in both training and analysis settings. The first two sections offer an assessment of the state of the practice and of the need to make better use of human performance moderator functions (PMFs) published in the behavioral literature. The third section pursues this goal by providing an illustrative framework for integrating existing PMF theories and models, such as those on physiology and stress, cognitive and emotive processes, individual differences, and group and crowd behavior, among others. The fourth section presents asymmetric warfare and civil unrest case studies to examine some of the concerns affecting implementation of PMFs such as verification, validation, and interoperability with existing simulators, artificial life emulators, and artificial intelligence components. The final section of this chapter concludes with lessons learned and with some challenges if the field is to reach a greater level of maturity

Fonctionnement des équipes de réponse d'urgence : examen de la dynamique d'un modèle d'efficacité

Le travail d’équipe est au cœur de la gestion de crise. Toutefois, la complexité des situations de crise compliquent le travail d’équipe et augmentent le risque d’erreur. Une meilleure compréhension des processus d’équipe et de leur interrelation est essentielle pour comprendre les facteurs influençant la performance des équipes. La modélisation de la performance est primordiale afin d’éviter des erreurs lourdes de conséquences. Plusieurs modèles ont été proposés dans la littérature afin d’expliquer la performance des équipes. Le modèle des fonctions de régulation de Rousseau, Aubé et Savoie (2006) propose une interaction dynamique des processus d’équipe les plus fréquemment associés à la performance. L’objectif de la thèse est de valider empiriquement le modèle théorique de Rousseau et al. (2006). Plus précisément, la thèse vise à (1) déterminer la contribution relative de chaque fonction de régulation et son lien avec la perfromance des équipes de gestion de crise, (2) valider l’aspect séquentiel des fonctions de régulation et (3) vérifier l’impact de la structure d’équipe sur le modèle des fonctions de régulation. Toutefois la recherche en gestion de crise n’est pas simple. La thèse propose un protocole de recherche qui combine l’utilisation de simulations fonctionnelles, de mesures objectives de la performance, et de l’analyse du contenu des communications. Cette combinaison offre un équilibre entre la validité écologique et le contrôle expérimental afin d'évaluer de façon concrète les comportements d’équipe dans un environnement sécuritaire, contrôlé et reproductible. Les métriques utilisées pour évaluer la performance et les fonctions de régulation sont objectives et non invasives. La thèse a permis de valider en partie le modèle des fonctions de régulation. Les résultats montrent que certaines fonctions de régulation sont associées à la performance des équipes de gestion de crise, et que les équipes utilisent les fonctions de régulation de façon séquentielle. Toutefois, l’utilisation des fonctions en suivant la séquence prédite par le modèle n’est pas associée à une meilleure performance des équipes de gestion de crise. D’autres avenues, comme le synchronisme, doivent être abordées afin de bonifier le modèle des fonctions de régulation et comprendre les déterminants de la performance des équipes de gestion de crise

Exploring mixed reality in distributed collaborative learning environments

Society is moving rapidly towards a world, where technology enables people to exist in a blend of physical and virtual realities. In education, this vision involves technologies ranging from smart classrooms to e-learning, creating greater opportunities for distance learners, bringing the potential to change the fundamental nature of universities. However, to date, most online educational platforms have focused on conveying information rather than supporting collaborative physical activities which are common in university science and engineering laboratories. Moreover, even when online laboratory support is considered, such systems tend to be confined to the use of simulations or pre-recorded videos. The lack of support for online collaborative physical laboratory activities, is a serious shortcoming for distance learners and a significant challenge to educators and researchers. In working towards a solution to this challenge, this thesis presents an innovative mixed-reality framework (computational model, conceptual architecture and proof-of-concept implementation) that enables geographically dispersed learners to perform co-creative teamwork using a computer-based prototype comprising hardware and software components. Contributions from this work include a novel distributed computational model for synchronising physical objects and their 3D virtual representations, expanding the dual-reality paradigm from single linked pairs to complex groupings, addressing the challenge of interconnecting geographically dispersed environments; and the creation of a computational paradigm that blends a model of distributed learning objects with a constructionist pedagogical model, to produce a solution for distributed mixed-reality laboratories. By way of evidence to support the research findings, this thesis reports on evaluations performed with students from eight different universities in six countries, namely China, Malaysia, Mexico, UAE, USA and UK; providing an important insight to the role of social interactions in distance learning, and demonstrating that the inclusion of a physical component made a positive difference to students’ learning experience, supporting the use of cross-reality objects in educational activities

Development Of A Cognitive Work Analysis Framework Tutorial Using Systems Modeling Language

At the present time, most systems engineers do not have access to cognitive work analysis information or training in terms they can understand. This may lead to a disregard of the cognitive aspect of system design. The impact of this issue is system requirements that do not account for the cognitive strengths and limitations of users. Systems engineers cannot design effective decision support systems without defining cognitive work requirements. In order to improve system requirements, integration of cognitive work requirements into the systems engineering process has to be improved. One option to address this gap is the development of a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) framework using Systems Modeling Language (SysML). The study had two phases. The first involved aligning the CWA terminology with the SysML to produce a CWA framework using SysML. The second was the creation of an instruction using SysML to inform systems engineers of the process of integrating cognitive work requirements into the systems engineering process. This methodology provides a structured framework to define, manage, organize, and model cognitive work requirements. Additionally, it provides a tool for systems engineers to use in system design which supports a user’s cognitive functions, such as situational awareness, problem solving, and decision making

Towards a model for teaching distributed computing in a distance-based educational environment

Several technologies and languages exist for the development and implementation of distributed systems. Furthermore, several models for teaching computer programming and teaching programming in a distance-based educational environment exist. Limited literature, however, is available on models for teaching distributed computing in a distance-based educational environment. The focus of this study is to examine how distributed computing should be taught in a distance-based educational environment so as to ensure effective and quality learning for students. The required effectiveness and quality should be comparable to those for students exposed to laboratories, as commonly found in residential universities. This leads to an investigation of the factors that contribute to the success of teaching distributed computing and how these factors can be integrated into a distance-based teaching model. The study consisted of a literature study, followed by a comparative study of available tools to aid in the learning and teaching of distributed computing in a distance-based educational environment. A model to accomplish this teaching and learning is then proposed and implemented. The findings of the study highlight the requirements and challenges that a student of distributed computing in a distance-based educational environment faces and emphasises how the proposed model can address these challenges. This study employed qualitative research, as opposed to quantitative research, as qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers to understand people and the social and cultural contexts within which they live. The research methods employed are design research, since an artefact is created, and a case study, since “how” and “why” questions need to be answered. Data collection was done through a survey. Each method was evaluated via its own well-established evaluation methods, since evaluation is a crucial component of the research process.ComputingM. Sc. (Computer Science

Shall we play a game?

In response to real and perceived short-comings in the quality and productivity of software engineering practices and projects, professionally-endorsed graduate and post-graduate curriculum guides have been developed to meet evolving technical developments and industry demands. Each of these curriculum guidelines identifies better software engineering management skills and soft, peopleware skills as critical for all graduating students, but they provide little guidance on how to achieve this. One possible way is to use a serious game — a game designed to educate players about some of the dynamic complexities of the field in a safe and inexpensive environment. This thesis presents the results of a qualitative research project that used a simple game of a software project to see if and how games could contribute to better software project management education; and if they could, then what features and attributes made them most efficacious. That is, shall we— should we— play games in software engineering management? The primary research tool for this project was a game called Simsoft. Physically, Simsoft comes in two pieces. There is an A0-sized printed game board around which the players gather to discuss the current state of their project and to consider their next move. The board shows the flow of the game while plastic counters are used to represent the staff of the project. Poker chips represent the team’s budget, with which they can purchase more staff, and from which certain game events may draw or reimburse amounts depending on decisions made during the course of the game. There is also a simple Java-based dashboard, through which the players can see the current and historical state of the project in a series of reports and messages; and they can adjust the project’s settings. The engine behind Simsoft is a system dynamics model which embodies the fundamental causal relationships of simple software development projects. In Simsoft game sessions, teams of students, and practicing project managers and software engineers managed a hypothetical software development project with the aim of completing the project on time and within budget (with poker chips left over). Based on the starting scenario of the game, information provided during the game, and their own real-world experience, the players made decisions about how to proceed— whether to hire more staff or reduce the number, what hours should be worked, and so on. After each decision set had been entered, the game was run for another next time period, (a week, a month, or a quarter). The game was now in a new state which the players had to interpret from the game board and decide how to proceed. The findings showed that games can contribute to better software engineering management education and help bridge the pedagogical gaps in current curriculum guidelines. However, they can’t do this by themselves and for best effect they should be used in conjunction with other pedagogical tools. The findings also showed that simple games and games in which the players are able to relate the game world to an external context are the most efficacious