Examining systems thinking through the application of systemic approach in the secondary school chemistry teaching

This study was conducted during the second semester of 2012/2013 school year, with the aim to investigate two possible applications of systemic synthesis questions, SSynQs: as instructional and assessment tools observing the construct of systems thinking in organic chemistry. In order to achieve this aim, the secondary school students were divided into two groups, one experimental (E: systemic classroom training) and one control (C: traditional classroom training). The final testing was conducting after instruction on three teaching themes: “Alcohols, phenols, ethers”, “Carbonyl compounds” and “Carboxylic acids and their derivatives”. The instrument for assessing students’ systems thinking skills contained isomorphic and analogical SSynQs, while the results focused on E and C group students’ percentage distribution through the four levels of systems thinking construct, as well as differences in their performances. Namely, the results obtained from both isomorphic and analogical SSynQs indicated that male and female students subjected to systemic classroom training developed systems thinking skills in more effective way than students from control group. Perceiving analogical SSynQs and gender as independent variable, the statistically significant difference appeared in E group within the most complex IV level of systems thinking, for the benefit of females. However, contrary to our previous research, E group male students were as much successful as female students in III level, and this finding led us to the conclusion that male students might benefit from longer lasting instruction with SSynQs

Developing Human Capital for Agrifood Firms' Multi-Stakeholder Interactions

This essay discusses 1) the current agri-food firms’ need of interacting with multiple stakeholders to undertake sustainable strategies effectively, 2) the relationship between human capital and firm capabilities to effectively interact with multiple stakeholders and 3) a list of competencies characterizing the human capital that would meet the need of agri-food firms and which can be learned – at least to some extent – through higher education and on-the-job training

Pilot Study: Effectiveness of System Dynamics based Interactive Learning Environment SD/ILE as an interdisciplinary educational tool in K-12 classrooms

Systems thinking is a methodology used to explore and understand the interrelationships within complex systems. One of the key concepts in systems thinking are the feedback loops. This research aims to assess the effectiveness of an SD/ILE (System Dynamics-based Interactive Learning Environment) as an interdisciplinary educational tool for K-12 students, to help them develop systems thinking skills and build lateral understanding on feedback loop processes. While the concept of feedback loops is far-reaching and present in many disciplines as well as day-to-day life, this ILE references the carbon cycle as a complex system. In this study we chose to develop a lesson about “Carbon Cycle” for two reasons: first, it is part of the US high-school biology curriculum, and second, due to the current environmental crisis, it is important to learn about climate feedbacks and to provide a real-world context. This is an empirical research project based on observation of students’ learning outcomes in a pilot session. During this session, students were provided with guidelines, the online links to the ILEs and challenges to complete both individually and in teams under their teacher’s supervision. The session took place in a US high-school biology class. The obtained results through the pilot test and analyzed data, show promising increase in students’ learning curve after playing the Carbon Cycle games in comparison with the pre-test results. Evaluation of students’ understanding, and page time tracking data reveals that learning curve has a high correlation with the average time that each student spent playing the game. Moreover, the data supports the positive impact of animation-based design in the students’ learning curve along the game. Also, this pilot session provides a useful overview of challenges for real-world experiment setup and limitations of available systems thinking skills measurement tools in real-world classroom experiments. The challenges are related to different aspects of the experience, such as the teachers’ role, interactive and engaging level of the ILE (game) design, appropriate timing for playing the game, easy instruction, and suitable assessment tool for measuring individual knowledge development. Among the strongest lesson learned from the classroom experiment, time management, and students’ engagement can be underlined.Master's Thesis in System DynamicsGEO-SD351INTL-KMDMASV-SYSDYINTL-HFINTL-JUSINTL-PSYKINTL-MNINTL-MEDINTL-S

Exploring System Dynamics in Education: A Pilot Study on the Implementation and Impact of Interactive Learning Environments

Masteroppgave i systemdynamikkGEO-SD351INTL-SVINTL-MEDINTL-MNINTL-HFINTL-JUSINTL-KMDINTL-PSYKMASV-SYSD

The Role of Supply Chain Management in Increasing the Competitive Advantages of Vietnamese Coffee Products: a Systems Thinking Approach

Supply chain management (SCM) has been receiving greater attention among academics and organizations and is viewed as a potential source of increasing competitive advantages. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the role of supply chain management in order to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese coffee. This topic was chosen because there has been little previous research done to study the competitive advantages of coffee products in general and of applying systems thinking in order to enhance the competitive advantages of Vietnamese coffee in particular. This research discovers suitable sub-system models for different chains of the whole coffee supply chain. Interrelationships between these sub-systems and their leverage points are also explored and identified in order to reduce cost, increase quality and upgrade the competitive advantages of Vietnamese coffee products. This research focuses on an understanding of supply chain management in order to enhance the competitiveness by asking the following research questions: What are the main drivers and barriers in the supply chain towards improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese coffee products? What is the most appropriate systems model for each sub-system in the coffee’s supply chain?, and How can systems thinking and modelling be used to manage a whole supply chain more effectively by reducing cost and enhancing the competitiveness of coffee products internationally? Initial findings of the study consist of three sub-system models (including sub-systems of production_chapter 2, processing_chapter 3, and export_chapter 4) to explore relationships among different variables in production, processing and export stages. A causal loop diagram for the whole supply chain was then developed (chapter 5), which helped to identify the overall relationships of the Vietnamese coffee supply chain from production to final customers. In addition, a sequential approach, by combining two established modelling techniques (Causal loop diagram and Bayesian Belief Networks - BBNs) was applied to identify the leverage points in the Vietnamese coffee supply chain for increasing the competitive advantages of the product (chapter 6). Finally, potential interventions were implemented in the coffee supply chain management philosophy for increasing the competitiveness of coffee products, and directions and recommendations for future research are also discussed.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 201

Applying Dynamic Performance Management to the Photovoltaic Sector: the Municipality of Palermo case study

Today, the even more compelling need to limit carbon dioxide emissions from energy generation – to address the ongoing global warming – implies the recourse to renewable energy sources (RESs). Indeed, these latter are able to meet energy demand into a more sustainable way. Considering the EU targets for the year 2020 in the matter of climate and energy, public organizations are expected to take an active role e.g. by adopting and promoting RESs. In Italy, over the last decade, among the various technologies based on RESs, solar PV technology witnessed a remarkable growth thanks to the support of a government incentive scheme, which ceased to be applied in 2013. Since then, the PV power installed in the Italian public sector has started slowing down, thus determining changes in clean energy production from PVs. Based on this, the research study aims at enhancing the design, adoption, and evaluation of public policies for PVs in order to foster the achievement of a sustainable development in terms of clean energy. To this end, a “Dynamic Performance Management” (DPM) approach – resulting from the combination of System Dynamic methodology with the traditional Performance Management (PM) systems – is suggested. The need for adopting such an approach comes from the limitations of the traditional PM systems, which are not able to deal with the dynamic complexity that characterizes the systems in which public decision-makers operate. The DPM approach is applied to a case study based on the PV sector of the Municipality of Palermo (Italy). Empirical evidences, emerging from the development of a simulation model, reveal how the design and application of a DPM approach to the PV sector may effectively support public decision-makers in outlining sustainable policies aimed at fostering clean energy production