Exploring Collaborative Modeling as Teaching Method

Group Model Building (GMB) often refers to collaborative system dynamics (SD) modeling. Despite its impressive success in various interdisciplinary domains, SD still struggles to be adopted as a mainstream method in the very areas where it has proven its worth. SD is hard to learn, and acquiring modeling skills can take long time. SD is mostly taught in modeling courses with examples from various disciplines, in a non-collaborative way. Learning SD modeling as a "byproduct" in courses (like ICT, security, industrial management) and in collaborative way would seem at the outset a losing proposition. Experiences with an approach using a project-oriented approach adapting ideas and exercises from GMB suggests otherwise: Students consistently perform well, with marked learning curves in SD modeling, course matters, and project execution skills. Student satisfaction is high in most respects. Some students, though, report that they spend more hours in coursework than they had expected.