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Saturday, March 04, 2006
System Dynamics in Distance Education and a Call to Develop a Standard Model - Steven C. Shaffer, IRRODL
This paper describes systems dynamics, reviews the literature of uses of systems concepts in distance education (DE), presents a preliminary model, and ends in a call to researchers to contribute to the building of a standard model of DE. Systems theory, system dynamics, and similar phrases are often found in the literature of education, in general, and online education, in particular (Shaffer, 2004). There are two main strands of systems thought: systems theory and system dynamics. Systems theory was initially developed by biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1968) as a rigorous method of describing the structure and mechanisms of organic systems. He was concerned about “the danger that general systems theory may end up in meaningless analogies” (p. 35) and was at pains to point out that “general systems theory is not a search for vague and superficial analogies” (p. 35). System dynamics (Forrester, 1968), the approach taken in this paper, comes out of the tradition of cybernetics research and is primarily focused on the dynamics of feedback loops, which, it is claimed, lie at the core of all real-world phenomena (Sterman, 2000). Sterman (1994) offers an excellent, detailed introduction to the use of systems theory in education.
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