In response to criticism that academia does not train students to be effective decision makers, m... more In response to criticism that academia does not train students to be effective decision makers, many business schools have attempted to modify their graduate management programs. A primary ingredient missing from these attempts is the teaching of systemic thinking. Instead of viewing challenges via cause and effect (linear thinking), academia should review all possible variables. Systemic thinking can be used to avoid looking at obvious causes, and looks for properties of the whole that emerge from the combination of parts, but which can be unexpected from examining each of the parts in turn. This point of view article reviews the difficulty of conceptualizing and implementing systemic thinking in academia.
For more than nine years, I have been deeply interested in metacognition as it applies to the art... more For more than nine years, I have been deeply interested in metacognition as it applies to the art and science of teaching. I have also been involved in taking non-professional teachers and training them to be both content area experts and more than adequate teachers in the classroom. This can be a tough endeavor as people like to teach in non-traditional schools for a variety of reasons and some are not always interested in becoming teachers qua teachers. Worse are those who feel being a subject matter expert is enough because as long as they're talking, the students must be learning, right? Pushing metacognitive techniques in the classroom has been modestly effective, but more so for the individuals already familiar with the skills needed to be a more than adequate teacher. However, teaching metacognitive engagement is notoriously difficult because the techniques are so course and subject specific. Going beyond the basics and hoping those attending the workshops can apply the i...
In response to criticism that academia does not train students to be effective decision makers, m... more In response to criticism that academia does not train students to be effective decision makers, many business schools have attempted to modify their graduate management programs. A primary ingredient missing from these attempts is the teaching of systemic thinking. Instead of viewing challenges via cause and effect (linear thinking), academia should review all possible variables. Systemic thinking can be used to avoid looking at obvious causes, and looks for properties of the whole that emerge from the combination of parts, but which can be unexpected from examining each of the parts in turn. This point of view article reviews the difficulty of conceptualizing and implementing systemic thinking in academia.
For more than nine years, I have been deeply interested in metacognition as it applies to the art... more For more than nine years, I have been deeply interested in metacognition as it applies to the art and science of teaching. I have also been involved in taking non-professional teachers and training them to be both content area experts and more than adequate teachers in the classroom. This can be a tough endeavor as people like to teach in non-traditional schools for a variety of reasons and some are not always interested in becoming teachers qua teachers. Worse are those who feel being a subject matter expert is enough because as long as they're talking, the students must be learning, right? Pushing metacognitive techniques in the classroom has been modestly effective, but more so for the individuals already familiar with the skills needed to be a more than adequate teacher. However, teaching metacognitive engagement is notoriously difficult because the techniques are so course and subject specific. Going beyond the basics and hoping those attending the workshops can apply the i...
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