Higher education provision using systems thinking approach – case studies

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexities involved in higher education provision and how systems thinking and socio-technical systems (STS) thinking approach can be used to understand the education ecosystem. Systems thinking perspective is provided using two case studies: the development of European Learner Mobility (EuroLM) service and the delivery of Enterprise System Management (ESM) course at the Birmingham City University, UK. The case studies present how systems thinking using STS approaches like applied organisational change and Cognitive Work Analysis can be used to capture a conceptual model of the education system for understanding the interactions and relationships between the people, technology, processes and the organisations. Using systems thinking perspective, EuroLM has developed a set of technical standards addressed to the European systems developers and ESM delivery ensures that students communicate and collaborate.

KEYWORDS:

• Socio-technical systems thinking
• European Learner Mobility
• Cognitive Work Analysis
• higher education provision
• Enterprise System Management delivery

Notes on contributors

Anandhi Vivekanandan Dhukaram is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge. She has gained her PhD at the School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Birmingham and Master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research interests are in assistive healthcare, telemedicine and dependable socio-technical systems where she is interested in how human skills, social and organisational factors impact the dependability and delivery of complex systems. She holds years of product research, innovation and management experience of envisioning, building and launching products in healthcare, banking, e-commerce, real estate, tourism and education. A holistic thinker to bridge the gap between business vision, technical capabilities and user skills for defining user experiences and not just products.

Cleo Sgouropoulou is an Associate Professor at the Department of Informatics of the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. Her research interests lie in the fields of design, development and standardisation of learning technology and research information systems. She has led and participated in several related standardisation projects of the European Standardization Committee (CEN). She is the Head of the Delegation of the Hellenic Organization for Standardization to CEN, Vice-Chairing Technical Committee 353 ‘ICT for Learning, Education and Training’ and coordinating activities regarding metadata standards for European Learner Mobility. She is active as Coordinator and Primary Researcher in European Commission-funded projects.

Gerald Feldman is a research associate at the Centre for Enterprise Systems in Birmingham City University. He gained a PhD from the school of engineering, design, and manufacturing systems at Birmingham City University. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Computing and Information Systems from London Metropolitan University and a master’s degree in Data Networks and Security from Birmingham City University, UK. He has over 6 years’ industrial experience in implementing and managing information systems and 3 years’ experience of teaching Enterprise Systems Management courses. His research interests include management of Enterprise Systems, Decision sciences and understanding human and technology interaction.

Ardavan Amini is the Head of Enterprise Systems Centre of Excellence at Birmingham City University. He has worked as a Technology Transfer Consultant, delivering enterprise systems solution to SMEs and large enterprise across the region. Ardavan is currently an advisor to Birmingham City Council on Smart Cities and Chairman of SAP Database, Technology, and Innovation User Group in UK & Ireland. His research interests focuses on enterprise systems transformation, integration, decision, and systems engineering to address industrial demands and challenges in area of enterprise systems.

Additional information

Funding

EuroLM work was funded by the European Commission under the 2008 ICT Standardization Work Programme.