I saw the exchange between Phil Freneu and Peter Marks regarding the new
CD from High Performance Systems, "Next Step." I have used HPS products in
my research and writing since the first days of the company, but I hadn't
yet had a chance to explore the content of Next Step. So I decided to make
my own evaluation.
I didn't work through every stage of the disk's curriculum. This would
take 6-8 hours. I did get a good feel for the various kinds of content and
the mechanics of the package.
What do I conclude?
Peter Marks misses the point and his evaluation of this disk seems mainly
to be related to a grumpy attitude that he has acquired from factors
totally unrelated to this teaching package, like High Performance System's
relatively slow move to PC-compatibility.
A review of any educational tool obviously needs to be carried out
relative to the intended audience and purpose. This disk is not for people
who have been "playing with Ithink a long time," nor is it for students
who have the time and the access to expert guidance required to work
through one of the established texts. This disk works for an individual or
small team that has read Fifth Discipline, but remains unfamiliar with
computer modeling, and who wants to start learning more on their own time.
The disk offers a very small window into systems thinking, but it is a
very useful start.
Peter Marks says that there are other disks of this quality being
distributed for free as promotional material. I ask him kindly to send me
the addresses I can use to acquire them. I doubt they exist.
A few of the examples on the disk have been used many times before to
illustrate simple systems concepts such as delays. But they are packaged
in a new way here that makes the learning more powerful and more
accessible to someone working alone. The main simulation on the disk,
which requires the user to manage marketing and production investments for
a small company, is entirely new.
The STELLA and Ithink software environments have evolved enormously. They
still do not offer the range of options for output and input that you can
get in a good multi media courseware authoring package. But they integrate
the use of video and audio clips with real-time interaction with a dynamic
system. This permits a kind of action learning that is not available
generally.
When the package was run off the CD drive, I found the video and audio to
be a little klutzy on my machine, a Performa 6115CD. And the script was a
little lame. But they were perfectly adequate for the job, and they
represent a level of sophistication in integration with a system dynamics
model that has not been previously produced.
Next Step is a great advance over the flight simulators that are being
produced now quite widely. It gives users a chance to understand and
master the various elements of structure underlying the game's behavior.
Progress is rapid in this field. Of course two years from now there will
be much more polished packages available. But for the moment, this is the
best there is.
Dr. Dennis Meadows, Director
Institute for Policy and Social Science Research
University of New Hampshire
Thompson Hall
Durham, NH 03824, USA
Tel: 603-862-2186
Fax: 603-862-4140
Voice mail: 603-862-2604
E-mail: dmeadows@christa.unh.edu
Web: http://www.unh.edu/ipssr/index.html
--Dennis Meadows <MEADOWS@unh.edu>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>