Embedded Files
Helpful prior learning and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems.
Section S.1 What are systems?, which explains what a system is, the importance of systems boundaries, the difference between open and closed systems and the importance of systems thinking
Section S.2 Systems thinking patterns, which outlines the core components of systems thinking: distinctions (thing/other), systems (part/whole), relationships (action/reaction), and perspectives (point/view)
Learning objectives:
Explain how DSRP patterns can help us understand the uses and limitations of common tools like graphs, tables, brainstorming and outlines
Describe symbols used for making systems thinking visible: rectangles for parts, nested rectangles for parts/wholes, (labeled) lines and arrows for relationships, and eyes for perspectives
Explain some limitations of systems diagrams
Have you ever been part of a brainstorming session, maybe for a school project? Then you probably know what happens. People throw out all kinds of ideas, someone writes them down or maybe all the ideas go on sticky notes to be posted on a wall (Figure 1). Overwhelmed with lots of disconnected ideas, the group might find it difficult to move forward. For brainstorming ideas to be really useful, more work needs to be done.
Considering distinctions (identity/other), systems (part/whole), relationships (action/reaction) and perspectives (point/view) can help you understand and improve some common education tools like brainstorming, while also giving you the building blocks to use more formal systems thinking methods covered in Sections S.4-S.9.
Figure 1. A brainstorming session can generate a lot of ideas, but without further systems thinking they won’t be much use.
(Credit: DSStories, Pexels license)
How do familiar knowledge tools represent systems?
How do familiar knowledge tools represent systems?
Many familiar tools—like brainstorming, outlining, mind-mapping, graphs, and tables—have elements of systems thinking. However, they often focus on only part of the picture. By applying the DSRP (Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives) framework, we can better understand how these tools work and how they might be improved.
Brainstorming: Give structure to a mess of ideas
Brainstorming: Give structure to a mess of ideas
Brainstorming is useful for quickly generating ideas, but without further organisation, those ideas may have little meaning. To give those ideas meaning, you can use:
Distinctions (D): Identifying and categorising the different ideas;
Systems (S): Grouping related ideas into wholes and their parts;
Relationships (R): Showing how one idea is related to another;
Perspectives (P): Looking at the ideas from different viewpoints to see if new parts, wholes, and relationships emerge.
By applying these elements to a brainstorm (Figure 3), participants can take away a meaningful web of insights.
Figure 2. DSRP patterns reveal how familiar learning tools support—or limit—systems thinking.
(Credit: Cabrera Labs, used with permission)
Figure 3. After brainstorming, it's time to organise—grouping, connecting, and seeing things from new angles.
(Credit: BullRun, licensed from AdobeStock)
Outlining and mind-mapping: Adding relationships and perspectives to hierarchical structures
Outlining and mind-mapping: Adding relationships and perspectives to hierarchical structures
Mind-mapping (Figure 4) and outlining (Figure 5) organise information in a hierarchical structure (Figure 6) with parts and wholes. However, these tools often fail to show how different parts interact beyond this simple part-whole categorisation.
Figure 4. A mind map.
(Credit: Mind Mapping via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5)
Figure 5. An outline has the same structure as the mind map.
Figure 6. Both the mind map and the outline have a hierarchical structure, which can also be represented this way.
Adding relationships to these structures strengthens their explanatory power. In an outline for an essay or report, this means using arrows or labels to indicate connections between sections. Having a good thesis statement that you refer back to throughout the essay or report ensures that the ideas are connected. Transitions between paragraphs also help the reader see how ideas link.
Relationships can also be added to mind-maps. But once you start adding those relationships, it may be more effective to use one of the formal modeling strategies described in Sections S.4-S.7. Each of those models can include the part/whole hierarchies that a mind-map gives you, but highlight particular types of relationships, which can help clarify your thinking about what you are trying to show.
Graphs: XY graphs already incorporate D, S and R, but what about P?
Graphs: XY graphs already incorporate D, S and R, but what about P?
A basic XY graph, like the one shown in Figure 7, already incorporates three elements of DSRP:
Distinctions (D): Each axis represents a different variable, distinguishing between them clearly.
Systems (S): Each variable is its own system. The variable is the whole and the numbers or other data on the axes are the parts.
Relationships (R): Each point on the graph shows a relationship between the X and Y system parts, and a line connecting these two points shows the relationship between the X,Y parts.
Figure 7. Graphs have distinctions, whole/part systems, and relationships.
However, XY graphs often lack perspectives (P). The same data can be interpreted differently depending on what is emphasised, which scale is used, or what additional context is provided. By explicitly considering perspectives—such as comparing the graph from different stakeholder viewpoints or adjusting scales to highlight different trends—graphs become even more powerful tools for analysis.
Tables: Capturing all elements of DSRP
Tables: Capturing all elements of DSRP
A table organises information in a grid pattern, with labeled columns and rows. Well-structured tables may include all four elements of DSRP.
Distinctions (D): Every table cell has distinct information. Even if the number or other data is the same in multiple cells, each cell's position relative to a column and a row makes it unique (Figure 8).
Systems (S): Each column and row is a whole with data that are parts (Figure 9).
Relationships (R): Each table cell is the relationship between the row and the column (Figure 10).
Perspectives (P): Each row can be considered a perspective on a part (table cell) and its whole (column) (Figure 11).
The tables below represent data from the Happy Planet Index, which indicates how well countries are able to support a long and happy life relative to their carbon dioxide CO2 emissions.
Figure 9. Each column (or row) is a whole, and each cell in the group is a part of that whole.
Figure 10. The data in the table cell is the relationship between the row and the column.
Figure 11. Each row is viewing the items in the respective columns.
Which symbols are used for formal systems diagrams and models?
Which symbols are used for formal systems diagrams and models?
One of the main reasons to diagram systems is to make our mental models of systems visible to other people so we can discuss and improve them. But this only works if we all understand the visual symbols used to represent system distinctions, system parts/wholes, relationships and perspectives. Out in the wild, people do not use these symbols consistently, but adopting these symbols will help your own and others’ understanding:
Rectangles for distinctions (D): Each part of a system is usually represented as a labeled rectangle. Rectangles work well because their shape is suited to more words than circles or other shapes (Figure 12). Some people use circles, however, especially in network models;
Figure 12. Things, ideas, events are indicated with labeled rectangles.
Nested rectangles for system parts and wholes (S): Parts within wholes are represented by embedding rectangles inside each other (Figure 13);
Figure 13. Parts within wholes are represented by embedding rectangles inside each other.
Labeled lines and arrows for relationships (R): These indicate interactions, influences, or flows between parts (Figure 14). A simple line indicates the same relationship in both directions. Arrows indicate one direction for the relationship, or a movement between the parts in one direction;
Figure 14. Labeled lines and arrows represent relationships between system parts, and relationship labels can also have parts.
Eye and point symbols for perspectives (P): You can show different viewpoints by indicating which part of the diagram is being observed from which viewer. An eye represents the viewer and a corresponding dot on the thing being viewed shows which perspective is being applied. When a thing is being viewed by more than one perspective, different colours are used to indicate the various points of view (Figure 15).
Figure 15. The dog is being viewed by three perspectives, which could be the viewpoints of people or it could be the viewpoints of other ideas like history, anatomy, role in the ecological food webs, etc.
It is important to note that the dot on the thing being viewed is not the “point” of view. The point of view comes from the viewer, the eye symbol. The dot on the thing corresponds to the eye, and different colours can be used to indicate that different perspectives are being applied to the thing.
What are the limitations of systems diagrams and models?
What are the limitations of systems diagrams and models?
Systems diagrams and models help us understand systems, but they must be used carefully.
A model is not the system, just a simplified version. No model captures every detail, and all models leave things out. While models highlight patterns and relationships, they can also mislead us if we forget their limits, as seen in some economic models (Section 1.1.2).
System diagrams also reflect the perspectives of their creators. Choices about what to include, exclude, and how to show relationships shape how the system is understood. Making models visible allows others to discuss, critique, and improve them. Different people may see the system differently, identifying missing or overlooked parts that are key to understanding how it works.
Real-world systems also change over time. A model that fits today may not work tomorrow. Feedback loops may strengthen or weaken, stocks may grow or shrink, and new relationships may form. Models should be seen as evolving tools that need updating as conditions change.
The next sections (S.4 - S.7) explain four formal systems thinking models. Each type of model focuses on a different type of relationship between system parts, such as flows between parts (stock/flow), cause-and-effect (causal loops and feedback), rules that affect behaviour (agent-based), or other kinds of connections (networks). Understanding these visual tools can help us choose the most effective one for representing and sharing our mental models and addressing complex issues.
Activity S.3
Activity S.3
Concept: Systems
Skills: Thinking skills (transfer)
Time: varies, depending on which option is chosen
Type: Individual, pairs, and/or group depending on option
Option 1: Practising systems thinking symbols
Time: 35-40 minutes
The embedded economy model shows that there are four provisioning institutions in the economy: households, markets, commons and the state. Like all systems, these parts are related and even though you may be at the start of your economics studies, you may already have some idea how.
Alone, in pairs or small groups, use what you know about systems diagrams to redraw the information in Figure 17, showing distinctions, system parts/wholes, relationships, and perspectives. Section 1.1.2 provides a basic outline of these institutions, but don’t worry if you don’t have many ideas yet.
Share your ideas with others when finished and discuss the following:
How did others’ models differ from yours and why?
What does this show you about the importance of making your mental models visible to others and including more perspectives in model building?
Figure 17. The four provisioning institutions of the economy can be redrawn using DSRP patterns and the system symbols you learned about in Section S.2 and S.3.
Option 2: Reflecting on systems thinking with tools you’re already using
Time: 15-40 minutes, depending on the complexity of information selected by the students, and whether time is allocated for sharing
Find an example of a mind map, outline, graph or table that you have used recently in school.
Look at the information again, and consider how you could use the DSRP framework to improve your thinking about or use of the information.
For example, you could find a graph or a table of data from one of your courses, and explain how thinking about distinctions, part/whole systems, relationships and perspectives gives you some new insights about the data.
Or, you may have written an outline for an essay recently. How could thinking about the relationships between parts of the essay improve the overall argument or perspective you are writing about?
Share your ideas with a partner or small group, or present to the class
Option 3: Browsing the Master the Moves shorts - Jigsaw
Time: 40 minutes
This activity is repeated from S.2 because it also applies to S.3.
The Further Exploration section further down on this webpage has a list of short (ca. 5 min) videos about various ‘moves’ to practice the basics of systems thinking. They are listed in order from distinctions, systems, relationships and perspectives, with the final one circling back to thinking about distinguishing systems.
Identify a system to analyse - it could be anything, but you may wish to pick a simple object that everyone in the class is familiar with. Or you could choose households as a provisioning institution that all students should know something about.
Form groups and each group takes a different short video from the Further Exploration section. Make sure to include videos that cover distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives among the groups.
Individually or in the group, watch your assigned video twice, taking notes.
In the group, summarise the key ideas of the video, focusing on the ‘move’ it teaches. Clarify any confusion about the video among the group members.
Use that ‘move’ to analyse the system chosen at the start of the lesson. Discuss your ideas and clarify any questions.
Split up and regroup with other students who watched different videos. There should be one student representing each video in the new groupings.
Take turns explaining your moves to each other, discussing how it helps the group better understand the system you’ve been considering.
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Further exploration
Cabrera Lab Master the Move Shorts - These short (ca. 5 minute) videos explain simple thinking ‘moves’ that are the basis for more complex systems thinking:
Thing - About distinguishing things (focused on the thing)
Not Thing - About distinguishing things (focused on the other)
Zoom-In - About looking more closely at a thing to see its parts
Zoom-Out - About taking a wider view of parts to see how they are related in a wider system
DIO List - About distinguishing things from others by zooming in on their parts
Part a Part - About breaking down wholes into their parts
Part Parties - About identifying relationships between parts of a system
RD Barbell - About identifying relationships between parts
R-Way - About the directionality of relationships through actions/reactions
RDS Barbell - About identifying relationships between things, and understanding that the relationships themselves are systems with parts and wholes
R-Channels - About identifying relationships between the parts in a system
View Me - About identifying perspectives (point/view)
P-Circles - Another video about identifying perspectives (point/view)
PPV Pop-up - A third video about perspectives!
Subpoints - About how points of view can have parts, subpoints of view
Subview - About how the things being viewed can have parts, subviews
Not System - About distinguishing systems (identity/other)
Sources
Sources
Cabrera, D., & Cabrera, L. (2018). Systems thinking made simple: New hope for solving wicked problems (2nd ed.). Odyssean Press.
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Coming soon!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse