Abstract for:System Dynamics Models Created by Secondary School Students: 1990 – 2010

Jay Forrester said if our decision makers are going to improve their policy decisions regarding complex systemic problems then we need them to understand the dynamics produced by at least a two stock model. The value of understanding dynamic behavior applies to decisions made in a broad spectrum of organizations: government, business, education, and social situations. To that end he strongly supported the inclusion of System Dynamics modeling and the systems thinking skills that develop from such modeling in pre-college school systems. The models displayed in this poster collection will include those original models created by secondary school students, over a period of two decades. Each study involved a complex dynamic problem. After taking a 30 week course in System Dynamics modeling, each student group had 10 weeks to select a problem that interested them, complete research, design a working model, and write a technical paper describing how their model worked. The model diagram, a one paragraph explanation of the problem, and one model graph will be displayed for each student group.