Teaching Dynamic Feedback Systems Thinking: An Elementary View

A pilot study has demonstrated that dynamic feedback systems concepts can be taught to children as young as ten and eleven years old, when nurtured by a teaching strategy that follows Bruner's emphasis upon the teaching of basic structures [Bruner, J. S. 1963. The process of education. Vintage Books, New York.]. Focusing on the understanding and representation of underlying structures in the area of social studies, the author developed, implemented and evaluated a curriculum to teach children both to read dynamic feedback systems causal-loop diagrams and also to develop feedback diagrams explaining causal relationships among variables discussed in written materials. The curriculum enabled fifth and sixth grade children to learn analytic and synthesis skills previously taught primarily to graduate classes at M.I.T. The positive results achieved seem transferable to broader groups wishing to become familiar with dynamic feedback systems thinking and its applicability to social problems.