Abstract for: Disabled People from Welfare to Jobs: An Interactive Learning Environment Experimental Investigation

A System Dynamics model focusing on enabling disabled people to move from welfare to work in Norway was encapsulated in an Interactive Learning Environment (ILE) to contribute in linking ordinary people with policy-making. The ILE and the model behind it are intended to enable people to get a better understanding of the policy options to inform better decisions, and ultimately change users’ mental models. To explore how this ILE could change how users think and take decisions, the ILE was assessed by an expert opinion poll, and tested with users in 2 different experiments. To identify the type of change this ILE is capable of causing, we have conducted α, β, and γ change analysis on the results of these experiments. 67% of the sample of our expert opinion poll think that the ILE achieves the intended goals. 33% of the users who were included the analysis of both experiments have shown a change in their understanding and perceptions of the system’s causalities and policy options. 38% have redefined the standards they use to assess or evaluate these causalities and policy options. In total, 71% of the users have redefined certain knowledge as a result of using the ILE.