Abstract for: Teaching System Dynamics to Liberal Arts Students

System Dynamics has been taught at Dartmouth College since the 1970s and is currently the focus of an undergraduate course offered by the Thayer School of Engineering. The target audience for the course is liberal arts (non-engineer) students from across the Dartmouth campus. In its current form, the course aims to help students develop skills in “thinking in systems” by providing multiple opportunities for students to engage in directed practice in developing and testing system dynamics models. This session outlines key features of the course, highlighting aspects which appear to be effective in developing student skills. Sample student work products are used to illustrate student outcomes. A portion of the session will be devoted to discussing the sustainability of the course, as well as the potential for broader application of the approach and materials used in the course.