Course : T306_1 Managing Complexity: A Systems Approach (2000)

Summary

Provided by The Open University under their OpenLearn website as a free study units with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others.

Time: 20 hours
Level: Advanced

From The Open University:

Do you need to change the way you think when faced with a complex situation? This unit examines how systemic thinking and practice enables you to cope with the connections between things, events and ideas. By taking a broader perspective complexity becomes manageable and it is easier to accept that gaps in knowledge can be acceptable.

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Course : T551_1 Systems Thinking and Practice (1999)

Summary

Provided by The Open University under their OpenLearn website as a free study units with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others.

Time: 8 hours
Level: Intermediate

From The Open University:

What is systems thinking and practice? The essence of systems thinking and practice is in ‘seeing’ the world in a particular way, because how you ‘see’ things affects the way you approach situations or undertake specific tasks. This unit will help you to learn about the problems of defining a system and meet some of the key concepts used in systems theory: boundary, environment, positive and negative feedback, etc.

After studying this unit you should be able to:

• develop confidence in using systems concepts and language;
• describe accurately the set of key systems concepts;
• understand what is distinctive about systems thinking as opposed to other forms of thinking;
• understand how systems thinking is useful in analysing and improving situations;
• understand the notion of a system as a creation of the observer, i.e. as an intellectual construct, as opposed to using the term system in other ways, i.e. as entities that exist ‘out there’;
• identify and represent systems of interest (that are not ‘out there’).

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Course : T552_1 Systems Diagramming - OpenLearn (2002)

Summary

Provided by The Open University under their OpenLearn website as a free study units with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others

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Time: 12 hours

Level: Introductory

From the Open University:

Pictures speak louder than words. But how can you use diagrams to help you? This unit looks at how diagrams can be used to represent information and ideas about complex situations. You will learn how to read, draw and present diagrams to help illustrate how ideas or processes are connected.

After reading this unit you should be able to:

• appreciate diagrams as a powerful aid to thinking and acting;
• distinguish between systems diagrams and diagrams helpful in systems work;
• demonstrate sufficient skills to ‘read’ and ‘draw’ a wide range of diagrams, following given conventions, that help improve your understanding of a situation;
• select diagrams suited to the needs of the situation you are investigating and the purposes/preferences of you as the diagrammer.

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Course : T553_1 Systems Modelling (1999)

Summary

Provided by The Open University under their OpenLearn website as a free study units with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others.

Time: 4 hours

Level: Introductory

From the Open University:

Maps and plans, architects and engineers, drawings, graphs and tables: all are models we use in everyday life. This unit will introduce you to the modelling process enabling you to recognise that systems models may be used in different ways as part of a process for: improving understanding of a situation; identifying problems or formulating opportunities and supporting decision making.

Learning Outcomes

After working through these materials you should be able to:

• describe and use a general classification of models;
• outline and discuss the process of systems modelling, where models are used as part of a systemic approach to a range of different situations;
• recognise that systems models may be used in different ways as part of a process for: improving understanding of a situation; identifying problems or formulating opportunities; supporting decision making.

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Course : TD866_3 Nature Matters: Systems Thinking and Experts (2009)

Summary

Provided by The Open University under their OpenLearn website as a free study units with a discussion forum. Study independently at your own pace or join a group and use the free learning tools to work with others.

Time: 15 hours
Level: Advanced

This unit explores conceptual tools for assisting our thinking and deliberation on what matters. The notion of ‘framing’ nature is introduced and three readings provide an understanding of systems thinking for explicitly framing issues of environmental responsibility.

From The Open University:

This unit explores conceptual tools for assisting our thinking and deliberation on what matters. In Section 1, a reading by Ronald Moore introduces the notion of ‘framing’ nature, raising the perceived paradox of inevitably devaluing an aesthetically pleasing unframed entity. Three further readings, two from Fritjof Capra and one from Werner Ulrick (all of which are quite short and markedly reduced from their original courses), provide an understanding of systems thinking for explicitly framing issues of environmental responsibility. The development of systems literacy (referred to by Capra in terms of ecoliteracy and by Ulrich in terms of critical systems thinking) is explored to counter the sometimes debilitating dualistic positioning on environmental matters alluded to by writers such as Talbott, Light and Higgs amongst many others.

Section 2 focuses more on how conceptual tools can help to inform better policy and action regarding environmental matters. Here, a reading by Robyn Eckersley critically explores the importance and limitations of environmental pragmatism for informing policy. Finally, ideas of cognitive justice are explored in a reading by Shiv Visvanathan, who suggests a need for continually developing constructive space between scientific experts and lay experts in order to inform policy and action on what matters that reflects a wider constituency, and that is more specific to eco-cultural circumstances.

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