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D-4502-6 1 Road Maps 2 A Guide to Learning System Dynamics System Dynamics in Education Project2 A Guide to Learning System Dynamics D-4502-6 Road Maps 2 System Dynamics in Education Project System Dynamics Group Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology April 23, 1993 Revised June 21, 2000 Copyright © 2001 by MIT Permission granted to copy for non-commercial educational purposes STELLA, STELLA II and iThink are trademarks of High Performance Systems. Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computers, Inc. Vensim and Vensim PLE are trademarks of Ventana Systems Inc. Compiled under the direction of Professor Jay W. Forrester3 D-4502-6 Road Maps 2 Welcome to Road Maps Two! Road Maps is a self-study guide to learning the principles and practice of system dynamics. Road Maps Two is the second in the series of chapters in Road Maps. In Road Maps Two, you will begin to model simple systems using STELLA IITM (Systems Thinking Educational Learning Laboratory with Animation) software. STELLA is an easy-to-use software package that allows the user to create and run models on the computer. Road Maps Two continues to expand on the concept of feedback loops introduced in Road Maps One. It also introduces graphical integration and the concepts of levels and rates, as well as the relationship between feedback loops and levels and rates. Topics Covered in Road Maps Two Introduction to Computer Modeling - The First Step (D-4694) by Leslie A. Martin - Beginner Modeling Exercises (D-4347-6) by Leslie A. Martin Feedback - Introduction to Feedback (D-4691) by Leslie A. Martin Graphical Integration Exercises - Graphical Integration Exercises Part 1: Exogenous Rates (D-4547-1) by Alice Oh Levels and Rates - Introduction to Computer Simulation, Chapter 13 Levels and Rates by Nancy Roberts et al.4 A Guide to Learning System Dynamics D-4502-6 Things You’ll Need for Road Maps Two Modeling Software In order to complete Road Maps Two and subsequent Road Maps, you will need to have access to modeling software. The Road Maps guides and most papers included in Road Maps were written with the use of STELLA II for the Macintosh. STELLA II is currently available for both the Macintosh and the Windows platforms. If you have any questions about STELLA, contact High Performance Systems (see Appendix). Ask about prices for educational use. Vensim, Powersim, and DYNAMO are other software programs designed for building system dynamics models. Vensim is produced by Ventana Systems, which offers a free introductory version of its software, Vensim PLE, that can be downloaded off the World Wide Web. See the Appendix for more information about obtaining Vensim and Powersim. Notice written June, 2000: We have written a guide on how to use Vensim modeling software for each section of the Road Maps series that involves computer modeling. Each guide is located in the back of the exercise document. When Chapters 1-9 of the Road Maps series were written, STELLA software was the most common beginner modeling program available. Now you may choose from a number of system dynamics modeling software packages. If you would like more information on Vensim, please go to http://www.vensim.com. A free version called Vensim PLE is located there. For more detailed information on using Vensim software in the Road Maps series, please refer to the paper titled: “Vensim Guide (D-4856)” in the Appendix section at the end of Road Maps. From now on as additional papers for the Road Maps series are written, the Vensim software will be used exclusively for modeling exercises. A Computer To run the latest version of STELLA, STELLA 5.0, on a Macintosh, you will need an Apple Macintosh computer (68020 processor or higher) with at least 8 MB of RAM, a 12 MB hard disk and System 7.1 or higher. To run STELLA 5.0 for Windows you will need an IBM PC-compatible computer with a 486-class5 D-4502-6 Road Maps 2 processor running Windows 3.1 or greater. You will need at least 8 MB RAM, a hard disk with a least 16 MB of free space. Previous versions of STELLA have similar requirements. In either case, if you plan on continuing to model, it may be a good idea to have access to a computer with more memory, hard disk space and a faster processor. Books You will need chapters from the following book for Road Maps Two. Selected material from this book will also be used in later Road Maps, and is available for download in electronic format from the SDEP server. Roberts, Nancy, 1983. Introduction to Computer Simulation. Portland, Oregon: Pegasus Communications, 562 pp.6 A Guide to Learning System Dynamics D-4502-6 How to Use Road Maps Two Road Maps Two explores several topics in system dynamics through selected readings and exercises. Before each reading or exercise is a short description of the reading and its most important ideas. After each reading or exercise, we highlight the main ideas before moving on. Each chapter in Road Maps contains readings that introduce and strengthen some of the basic concepts of system dynamics. Other readings focus on practicing the acquired skills through various exercises or simulation games. Most of the chapters conclude with a prominent paper from the literature in the system dynamics field. We present the fundamental concepts of system dynamics as System Principles in Road Maps. These principles are enclosed in boxes that highlight them from the rest of the text to emphasize their importance. The progression of system principles in Road Maps allows you to revisit each principle several times. Each time a principle is revised in Road Maps, you will build upon your previous understanding of the principle by learning something new about the principle. The system principles are the core of Road Maps around which the readings, exercises, and papers are built. As part of the spiral learning approach that we use in Road Maps, many concepts will be briefly introduced early on and then explained later in greater detail. Road Maps contains a number of series of papers that are spread out over successive chapters. Each of these series focuses on a specific topic in system dynamics or the developing of a particular skill. The series start out with a simple paper, and progress to further develop the idea in subsequent chapters. Now let’s get started! Introduction To Computer Modeling The first two readings in Road Maps Two will get you started with the basics of modeling in


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