1. ITK 115 Reasoning About Complex Systems

2. Course Description (Catalog) 115 REASONING ABOUT COMPLEX SYSTEMS MAT 113, 120, or 145 req. May not be taken under the CT/NC option. Systems theory applied to complex systems. Design, construction, uses, and analysis of simulations for complex systems.

3. My Information Instructor: Cheri Higgins Office: OU 113 Phone: 438-2098 Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 12 – 1:30 pm Website http://lilt.ilstu.edu/cheri

4. What you need No books Computer access (either at home or in the ITK lab) Access to Word Vensim Tool Secondary storage Flash drive Ability to access your ISU datastore

5. Office of Disability Concerns 350 Fell Hall 438-5853 (voice) 438-8620 (TDD)

6. Course Work Since there is no text, class attendance is very important We will meet both in this room for both lecture and lab Lecture – Tuesday Lab - Thursday Midterm and a final exam Daily assignments that will be word processed or online, quizzes, and lab exercises

7. Grading Midterm Exam - 25% Final Exam - 25% Other assignments/quizzes - 50%

8. A Few Rules Cheating – dont do it Plagiarists will be persecuted. Assignments must be turned in when due Tests must be taken when scheduled Attendance is expected You student ID is required to use the IT labs

9. Overview of the Course This course deals with how we think. More precisely, we will learn a method for thinking about, i.e. reasoning about, complex problems.

10. Purpose of Course To help you develop a facility for systems thinking. The materials and labs are designed to help your comprehension. We will cover a number of different theories in order to better understand systems and the use of a system's perspective to reason about complex systems. We will apply systems thinking to real life situations.

11. Course Objectives To learn: new skills for critical thinking and problem solving…help develop your quantitative reasoning skills fundamental principles of systems thinking to analyze and evaluate complex systems to gain experience working in teams

12. Relevant Theories Systems Theory Systems Dynamics Simulation Theory

13. Six Levels of Comprehension explain why systems thinking is needed for complex dynamic issues. recognize when systems thinking is applicable. relate systems concepts to problems. use systems thinking in solving problems. construct system models for problems. use systems simulation in solving problems.

14. Overview of Topics Discuss what systems are and the difference between linear systems and complex system Complex system components and terminology How to model a system How to simulate the model using Vensim Different levels in model complexity

15. Small example to get up started Consider a small town library that currently has 1000 books. Situation 1 250 books are donated every year by citizens Situation II the town increases the number of books by 20% each year by making purchases 50 books are donated each year by citizens

16. How many books are in the library in: 2 years? 5 years? 20 years?