Abstract for: Using Loops that Matter to Learn About and Teach System Dynamics

New in Stella Architect and Stella Professional is the ‘Loops that Matter’ (LTM) toolset which automates the process of formal loop dominance analysis. In this workshop participants will learn how. 1. To teach system dynamics in a way that emphasizes the importance of feedback to model behavior. 2. LTM works both from a theoretical perspective, and mechanically in the software. 3. To understand the nature of causal relationships between pairs of related variables, 4. To understand the importance of loops to model behavior. Our focus will be oriented towards training educators, although, this workshop will provide ample opportunity for practitioners to educate themselves directly. To achieve our goals, we will review at least 3 models of varying levels of complexity, where the maximum complexity of the analyzed models will not exceed the intermediate level. We’ll explore how feedback loop dominance profiles change with model parameters, and with subtle changes to model structure. We’ll show the different ways in which models enter equilibrium and how different those equilibria are achieved in the loop dominance spectrum. Participants should bring computers, MacOS or Windows, and we will install the software and models. No prior experience with Stella is necessary.