THIS COURSE IS CONDUCTED ENTIRELY ONLINE VIA THE INTERNET

This is the Course Syllabus - Use the To See Current Information and Changes

IMPORTANT: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ONLINE COURSES

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

A communication system is a collection of individuals who relate to one another by means of shared messages and media networks. This course investigates the fundamental methods of thinking about such systems by intermixing a basic theoretical description of system theory with case studies of its practical application. Topics include interaction in connected systems, the role of the environment, networks, complexity and self-reference.

PROFESSOR'S DESCRIPTION

This course introduces a collection of ideas that can be used as tools for the investigation of complicated or complex problems. It provides access to a method of learning how different kinds of knowledge work together in the real world. These ideas are especially useful for people who:

1. will become managers or executives. Systems thinking is the preferred method of managing large, complex projects and organizations.
2. will work in any field that involves facts and theories. The systems approach is particularly effective in organizing facts and theories so that they can be used to describe real situations and solve real world problems.
3. will have to deal with complex problems on a regular basis. "Systems" is a way of organizing knowledge in order to make useful models of situations that are too complicated to understand "in the raw." The systems approach has been used successfully in advertising, government, education and many other fields of endeavor.

Systems thinking has a long history. Its major practitioners include people like:

Aristotle: who noted that "The whole is more than the sum of its parts," and initiated the idea of analysis.

Von Bertallanfy: who saw biology in terms of networks of organic systems.

Ashby, Beer, Weinberg, Ackoff, Boulding and others: who described organizations as complex interconnections of people and relationships.

Maturana and Varela: who introduced the concept of self-reproduction and self-organization.

Luhmann: who defined society as a self-referential system.

These people come from a variety of professions, including philosophy, biology, economics, sociology and medicine. What they have in common is a point of view: they all see the world as being composed of networks of objects connected by means of communications. This approach fits so well with the study of communication that systems theory is sometimes looked at as a theory of communication.

You can find a much more detailed description of "systems" at my website.

REQUIRED TEXTS

• The Communication Process AND ALSO Systems Thinking, Dillman, online
• The course begins with the discussion of these while you acquire your books and get used to the online communications methods. The first is a chapter of my online textbook shows how communication is related to systems theory. The second was written for this course to provide a brief introduction to systems thinking.
• The Systems Bible: The Beginner's Guide to Systems Large and Small, John Gall
• In his somewhat tongue-in-cheek discourse on why systems fail, Gall focuses on the problems that arise when we use systems to solve problems. The point is something that few people ever take the time to truly understand: in our culture, in general, nothing works very well for long.
• Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
• This is a famous, ground breaking book that shows how we turn thoughts into words. A surprising number of situations that people call "problems" exist more or less entirely in language. This book helps explain why.
• The Art of Problem Solving: Accompanied by Ackoff's Fables, Russell Ackoff
• In this book an experienced systems consultant presents some of his most interesting cases. This is an exercise in the complexities of real world problem solving.

Recommended Additional Reading:

• Signs and Language, Dillman
• Although not required reading, you may find this online tutorial useful with regard to the Lakoff and Johnson book.
• An Introduction to General Systems Thinking, Gerald M. Weinberg
• Recommended for everyone. Weinberg is one of the most widely read writers on systems thinking, and his book focuses on the basic definitions and principles of systems thinking. Many consider this the best book on systems ever written ... unfortunately it is out of print in paper, although an electronic version is now available.
• Thinking In Systems, Donella H. Meadows
• Recommended for everyone. This concise tutorial talks about how systems thinking works and introduces the most widely used method of diagramming systems situations.
• Systems Thinking, Second Edition: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture, Jamshid Gharajedaghi
• Recommended if you are interested in business, economics, or organizational communication. Arguably the most highly rated book on the use of systems thinking in management. Gharajedaghi worked with Russel Ackoff, one of the early leaders of the modern systems movement, and his approach to dealing with large, complex business problems has been developed over many years of practice.
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig AND ALSO The Image, Boulding
• Recommended if you are interested in art, literature, philosophy, interpersonal communication, or psychology. In a book that is part novel and part philosophical discourse, Pirsig takes on the intersection of aesthetics and systems. The story is easy to read, but the ideas take some work. Boulding's discourse on the relationship between the social and the personal provides an important counterpoint to Pirsig's presentation.
• Social Systems, Niklas Luhmann
• Recommended for honors students or for people who already have experience with systems thinking. This groundbreaking work is setting the future direction of systems thinking. The book is translated from German and is densely packed with ideas. It is hard to read, but definitely worth the effort.

TOPICS

This course mixes a basic description of systems thinking with problems and exercises of its practical application.

See the Course Calendar for assignment due dates. Additional details will be posted to the Class Discussion Board as they evolve.

1. The Problem: Complexity

School is divided into subjects. Each subject tends to believe that it is unique ... that it can be studied by itself without reference to any of the other subjects. A curriculum is a collection of classes, each a deep study of a specific topic ... few of these connect to one another. The result of this approach is that it all seems pretty simple ... deep, but simple.

But life is far from simple. Math majors study perfect circles ... art majors learn that "there are no perfect circles in nature" ... after graduation the art majors work with graphics programs designed by math majors. Economics majors study supply and demand curves ... yet today's economy seems determined as much by politics as by resources. Communication majors study speech ... in a world increasingly connected by electronic text messaging systems created by people who never took a speech class.

Many graduates discover that they either have to forget what they learned in college or they have to expand and merge their knowledge in some meaningful way in order to survive.

The latter is the better way. School subjects are simple ... but when these subjects overlap with one another in the real world, the results are complex, and in the real world, complexity is often the problem.

2. The Three-Way Solution: Observation, Analysis, Communication

Real world complexity cannot be dealt with in a direct way ... that is what "complexity" means. To cope with this, we need to break complex situations down into more simple, though less accurate descriptions. One approach is to divide the world into objects, connections between the objects, and relationships among connected objects. A piece of the world that we have modeled in this manner is called a system.

"A system is a collection of objects connected so that they all relate to one another."

It is one thing to say this ... it is another to truly understand what it means, and yet another to be able to use it as a method for dealing with problems.

The method is called "systems thinking". The ideas that underlie the method are called "Systems Theory." The Shannon-Weaver model of communication is a systems theory ... as are most of the models and theories that you have met in your studies of mass and interpersonal communication. These theories and methods attempt to deal with complex situations by selecting out what seem to be the key facts and focusing on understanding how those fit together.

In short, systems thinking requires that we observe reality so that we know as much as we can know, that we analyze what we know and use our knowledge to construct useful models, and that we communicate to others our results. Communication in and of itself does not solve problems, but the connected communications of many people who are studying a problem from different points of view is essential to finding a general solution.

3. Practical Examples

Many books have been written on systems theory and thinking. They all say that the best way to study systems thinking is to use it. So this course will present you with an explanation of systems thinking and give you ample opportunity to discuss those ideas with the professor and other students, and to apply the ideas to problems and exercises.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

This online course operates very differently from the way a "regular" classroom class operates. Please read all of the pages at this web site. Be sure to read the emails that I send you -- they contain important information about the class. And be sure to keep very close track of the messages that are being posted to the Class Discussion Board.

IMPORTANT: What You Should Know About ONLINE Courses

See the Course Calendar for the list of class assignments and their due dates. Additional details about assignments will be posted to the Discussion Board as the class proceeds.

ONLINE DISCUSSION BOARD

The class Discussion Board is provided for the use of class members. The board is closed to outsiders, and you will have to give your class ID code and password to be able to use it. IDs and passwords will be distributed at the beginning of the course. Each week you will log on to the discussion board and post your observations and questions about the ideas that we are considering at the time. I participate in this discussion, too, and it serves as the main venue for the course.

GRADING

See the Assignments and Grading page for a detailed description of the course assignments.

HONOR CODE

Statement of the Honor Code for this course.