Systems Concepts in Action

Williams, Bob; Hummelbrunner, Richard

doi:10.1515/9780804776554

Cited by 170 publications

(82 citation statements)

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“…Such learning experiences often disrupt students’ taken-for-granted assumptions, beliefs and values (Galt et al, 2013), creating discomfort and tension. To make the most of these experiences, critical reflection is needed on habits of mind, resulting behaviors and one's position relative to the system of interest (Williams and Hummelbrunner, 2010). Students will need to be prepared for and supported in such reflection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the core of systems thinking, or adopting a systems perspective, are the principles of holism and pluralism. Holism is defined as a shift in one's attention to the relationships and interactions between the component parts of a system to understand the whole and to be aware of the contextual factors that surround an issue; and, pluralism is defined as the explicit engagement and valuing of multiple perspectives in defining systems objectives, boundaries, interventions and evaluations (Reynolds and Holwell, 2010; Williams and Hummelbrunner, 2010).…”

Section: Identifying Common Themes In Sfse Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An emerging signature pedagogy for sustainable food systems education

Valley

Wittman

Jordan

et al. 2017

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

140

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Concerns are growing over the ability of the modern food system to simultaneously achieve food security and environmental sustainability in the face of global change. Yet, the dominant tendency within university settings to conceptualize and address diverse food system challenges as separate, disconnected issues is a key barrier to food system transformation. To address this fragmented approach, educators in North American institutes of higher education have begun new degree programs, specializations and certificates related to food systems. These programs, which we term sustainable food system education (SFSE) programs, have a common goal: to support post-secondary students across a range of disciplines in developing the knowledge, skills and dispositions to effectively address complex challenges in the food system. Graduates of these programs will be able to engage in collective action towards transforming the food system. As educators participating in flagship SFSE programs, we identify common pedagogical themes evident in SFSE programs, including our own. We then propose a signature pedagogy (SP) for sustainable food systems education. Signature pedagogies are conceptual models that identify the primary elements by which professional education in a specific field is designed, structured and implemented. On the basis of our analysis of SFSE programs, we identified systems thinking, multi-, inter-and trans-disciplinarity, use of experiential learning approaches and participation in collective action projects as central themes within a SFSE SP. By making these themes and their function explicit within a pedagogical framework, we seek to spur critical and creative thought regarding challenges of professional education in the field of sustainable food systems. Scholars and practitioners are encouraged to review, critique and implement our framework to advance the dialogue on SFSE theory and practice.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Identifying Common Themes In Sfse Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An emerging signature pedagogy for sustainable food systems education

Valley

Wittman

Jordan

et al. 2017

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Holism refers to a focus on the relationships and interactions between the components of a system to understand the whole as well as to consider the contextual factors that surround an issue or desired outcome. Pluralism refers to explicit engagement and valuing of multiple perspectives when characterizing a system (Reynolds and Holwell, 2010;Williams and Hummelbrunner, 2010). Food systems thinking further draws from a socio-ecological approach that examines the ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and human health dynamics pertaining to food (Ahmed et al, 2017Mason and Lang, 2017;.…”

Section: Description Of Individual Adaptable Sfs Program Learning Outmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-design of Adaptable Learning Outcomes for Sustainable Food Systems Undergraduate Education

Ebel

Ahmed

Valley

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Complex systems involve a larger number of interacting elements whose interactions are likely to be nonlinear and where small changes may produce significant consequences. In more complex systems, we may observe emergent patterns and causal links among emergent elements; a whole system may evolve in response to environmental factors or other systems (Snowden & Boone, 2007; Williams & Hummelbrunner, 2010).…”

Section: Types Of Games and Areas Of Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing Evaluation Practice With Serious Games

Olejniczak

Newcomer

Meijer

2020

American Journal of Evaluation

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Evaluation professionals need to be nimble and innovative in their approaches in order to be relevant and provide useful evidence to decision-makers, stakeholders, and society in the crowded public policy landscape. In this article, we offer serious games as a method that can be employed by evaluators to address three persisting challenges in current evaluation practice: inclusion of stakeholders, understanding of causal mechanisms, and utilization of evaluation findings. We provide a framework that distinguishes among games along two crucial aspects of evaluation inquiry - its function and the nature of the evaluand. We offer examples of successfully implemented games in each set of the four arenas we delineate: teaching knowables, testing retention, crash-testing mechanisms, and exploring systems. We explain how games can be employed to promote learning about and among stakeholders, and to collect valuable intelligence about the operations of programs and policies.

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Systems Concepts in Action

Cited by 170 publications

References 0 publications

An emerging signature pedagogy for sustainable food systems education

An emerging signature pedagogy for sustainable food systems education

Co-design of Adaptable Learning Outcomes for Sustainable Food Systems Undergraduate Education

Advancing Evaluation Practice With Serious Games

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