STELLA Powers International Cooperation in Systems Thinking Education
Students from Vermont Commons School and Nanjing, China Collaborate on Real World Problems
Lebanon, NH, June 20, 2007 — The US-China Systems Science Learning Project is a three-year initiative that teams students in Burlington, Vermont with peers in Nanjing, China to create, design and test solutions to real world problems. Founded by educators at the Vermont Commons School and Nanjing Education Technology Center to ensure that students are learning how to innovate and graduating with solid problem solving skills and experience in international collaboration, the project relies heavily on STELLA, Systems Thinking software from isee systems.
This year, four cross-cultural student teams used STELLA to examine urban sprawl, water quality, maple syrup production capacity, and rocket engine fueling and staging. While email and videoconferencing helped break distance and time zone barriers, STELLA provided teams with a universal language that permitted problem solving while highlighting cross-cultural perspectives.
“STELLA is allowing these students and others to model and simulate real world problems in order to test their ideas for solutions,” explains Joanne Egner. “You can’t help but be impressed by 26 kids in grades 7 though 12 articulating their concerns and proposing solutions along with peers from another country, educational system, and culture.”
This year’s US-China program culminated in a visit to the US by the Chinese students and their faculty advisors. It was a chance for the students to meet, have some fun, and sit down to finalize their STELLA models and presentations. Work teams presented to one another, to a public gathering at Champlain College, and at DynamiQUEST at Worchester Polytechnic Institute.
Vermont Commons and Nanjing Education Technology Center plan to continue the program with Systems Thinking and STELLA at the center. Vermont Commons is interested in advising other schools that might be interested in implementing similar programs and plans to build on their first successful year with funding.
A case study detailing the US-China Science Learning Project and its use of Systems Thinking and use of STELLA is available on the isee systems web site at http://www.iseesystems.com/vcs
About Vermont Commons School (www.vermontcommons.org) — Founded in 1997, the Vermont Commons School is an independent college preparatory school for grades 7-12. The school’s Research and Service program is a hallmark course known for encouraging students to apply scientific research methodologies to selected community issues or problems in an effort to create positive change. The Vermont Commons School is located in South Burlington, Vermont.
About Nanjing Educational Technology Center — The Nanjing Educational Technology Center is the information technology hub serving all high schools in the capital city of Jiangsu Province, China. The Center represents the efforts of the Jiangsu Government, Nanjing Education Bureau and the Jiangsu Branch of China Academy of Science & Technology Development (JSCASTD) in exploring the use of Systems Thinking and System Dynamics in education reform. The two Nanjing high schools currently involved in the US-China Systems Science Learning Project include the Affiliated High School to Nanjing Normal University and the Jinling High School.
About isee systems (www.iseesystems.com) — isee (formerly High Performance Systems) is the world leader and innovator in Systems Thinking software. Founded in 1985, isee released STELLA®, the first software application to bring Systems Thinking to the desktop. In addition to STELLA which is primarily used by educators, isee offers iThink® for business simulation. Thousands of individuals and organizations in over 80 countries use isee software to gain insight and shared understanding of environmental, financial, organizational, biological, chemical, mathematical, humanistic, and other systems.
