From System Thinking to Computational

Thinking
By GeoAddis
November 04,2015

Lesson outline

Computational Thinking

What is computational thinking

The drawbacks of computational thinking
The Rise of Technological Solutionism

Sustainability as a System Condition

System Thinking
The reasons why System thinking outweighs computational
thinking
Teaching System Thinking
Integrating System Thinking into the ICT Curriculum

Lesson Objectives

define and use the concepts of abstraction as modeling

understand the distinctive nature of computational thinking

Analyzeinformation to draw conclusions

be aware of applications of computational thinking

Introduction

The growth of ICT over the past two decades poses many
dilemmas for sustainability practitioners.

On the first
fraction of
demand for
manufacture
minerals.

On the other hand, ICTs are frequently cited as a key part of

the solution, as they offer new opportunities to monitor and
analyze human activity (e.g. movement of people and goods)
with alternatives (e.g. teleconferencing and virtualization).

hand ICT has grown to become a significant

humanitys environmental footprint, through
energy, particularly the embodied energy of
and demand for scarce or critical metals and

A. What is Computational Thinking?

Computational thinking is a way of solving problems,

designing systems, and understanding human behavior that
draws on concepts fundamental to computer science.

Computational thinking means creating and making use of

different levels of abstraction, to understand and solve
problems more effectively.

Computational thinking will be a fundamental skill

used by everyone in the world by the middle of the 21st
Century (by Jeannette Wing).

Computational thinking

Computational thinking (CT) is a problem-solving process

that includes a number of characteristics

Analyzing and logically organizing data

Formulating problems such that computers may assist

Identifying, testing, and implementing possible solutions

Automating solutions via algorithmic thinking

Generalizing and applying this problem solving process to

a wide variety of problems.

B. Drawbacks of Computational Thinking

Computational Thinking is not unique to computing, and is

not adequate to portray the whole of the field.
It attempts to solve problems through algorithmic means
while failing to perceive that can not be expressed using the
abstractions of CT
It looks for problems that tackled with computers. Ethical
dilemmas have no computational solutions, and are
overlooked when peering through a CT lens.
Computational Thinking lack awareness of the political
context in which these problems arise.

C. The Rise of Technological Solutionism

The belief that complex societal problems can be re-cast as

neatly defined problems with definite, computable solutions
or as transparent and self-evident processes that can be easily
optimizedif only the right algorithms are in place!.
Morozovs defn.
The term solutionism also serves to emphasize the point that
thinking in terms of problems and solutions is itself often
counter-productive.
Every wicked problem can be treated as a symptom of another
problem.

Sustainability as a System Condition

It is the ability of a system to endure

4. What is System Thinking

System thinking is a method of critical thinking by which you

analyze the relationships between the system's parts in order
to understand a situation for better decision-making. In
simpler terms, you look at a lot of the trees, other plants and
critters living around the trees, the weather, and how all
these parts fit together in order to figure out the forest.
systems thinking is an essential component of any attempt to
bring about transformational change to a sustainable society.
systems thinking can overcome the weaknesses of
computational thinking as a conceptual basis for designing
ICT for sustainability.

System thinking
System thinking is better than computational thinking by the
following reasons.
A. Domain Ontology for Sustainability Thinking
Hierarchical decomposition is used to reduce complex
problems, and encapsulation is used to create re-usable
solutions.
However, this ontology focuses on computational solutions,
usually at the expense of detailed analysis of problems and
problem contexts

System thinking
System thinking addresses the gap through the set of concepts

Stocks and flows:- A system analysis is to explore in terms of

stocks (quantities that vary over time) and flows (inputs and
outputs that affect the level)
Emergent Behavior :- Systems tend to have properties that
can not be traced to individual components or groups of
components
Feedback loop :- reinforcing feedback loops tend to amplify
any change within the system through a chain of cause and
effect.

System thinking
B. Theories of Change
Systems thinking provides a number of theories of change
C. Tools for Critical Analysis
computational thinking does not encourage critical thinking.
That is not to say that computational thinkers lack the tools to
evaluate whether a technological solution will work as planned.

5. Teaching System Thinking

Introduction
systems thinking is not more widely taught and practiced is
because it is usually presented as a set of abstract concepts far
removed from everyday practice
systems thinking has had little impact in the past, because the
concepts are hard to teach and hard to learn
it does not fit neatly into any existing discipline within the
structure of higher education

Learn the four steps of computational

thinking
Analyzeinformation to draw conclusions
Match identical portions of similar phrases to match patterns
Identify differences in similar phrases and abstract them out

Integrating System Thinking into the ICT Curriculum

A graduate level course on systems thinking for

global problems, which explores the research
literature on systems thinking in some depth, using
the games to explore the concepts
Engineering design courses that incorporate full
lifecycle analysis as an essential step in any design
process.
Software engineering courses that adopt and
contribute to open source projects, to illustrate the
dynamics that occur in a broader community
project

7. CONCLUSION

In conclusion: the societal transformations needed to achieve

sustainability are more often hampered by ICT than
they are helped.
computational thinking as an important factor, asit
tends to push computer professionals towards
overly simplistic formulations of complex societal
problems, and fosters technological solutionism - a
belief that solving these simplified problems will
help build a more sustainable world.