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College Life: building the model
The student's basic problem: within constraints that I cannot control, how much of my time do I allocate to which activities?
I have a set of definitions that describe the situation that contains the problem. The new goal is to use these definitions to build a systems model ... then use the model to test possible solutions to the problem.
I previously developed a set of definitions.
Timeslot: A time of day with a length long enough to hold an event.
Timed Event: Something that happens that must be scheduled.
Overlap: This is a relationship. Two events are not allowed to overlap one another.
Priority: This is a relationship. Some events must happen at certain times ... other events can happen in any free timeslot ... and some events have to be negotiated. These are named "red", "yellow" and "pink".
Source: Events that have the red and pink priority require input from the environment.
Where I am: I have the pieces of the puzzle, but I do not yet have any organization. I know what the student needs to do ... assign events to timeslots based on their priorities and with no overlap. But I don't know how the student is to go about making this happen.
What I do next: I need to construct a model that clearly shows how the process of deciding which events go in which timeslots is going to work.
Making the Model
Well ... here's how I would do it:
I might diagram this model like this:
This shows the steps that the student would follow in order to solve the problem. Because the steps flow from one box to another, this is often called a "flow chart."
The shapes of the boxes say something about what the student would have to do. There is always a place to start, and a place to end. Some boxes ask yes/no questions. Some boxes do things, and some boxes get or drop events.
The boxes that resolve conflicts are especially interesting in this particular problem. So far, the model does not say much about how a student handles two events that overlap. Probably, that will have to be fixed.
Notice how complicated this looks. The outline above and the diagram below cover exactly the same situation. The difference is that the diagram is 100% specific about what happens and in what order it has to happen.
And here is a sample of what the model produces:
This is a student's daily schedule. If the model is working correctly, the schedule should:
This "output", as it might be called, is an important part of the model because getting the schedule right is what the modeling process is all about. It needs to be carefully reviewed. Is it correct? Is it a "good" result ... meaning does the student like it? Does the whole week fit together without any errors or problems? Does the whole semester fit together?
Something Happened Here ... Did You Notice?
The thing I used to call the "model" - the picture with the times and the colored events - is now called "the output of the model". And the model has turned into a flowchart of decisions that the student has to make.
Oops. It turns out that I started at the end ... with what the student had to make - a schedule ... and worked my way backwards to what the student had to do ... make a schedule. So it goes. That's how my mind worked things out for this particular problem.
But I always kept in mind that my goal was to show a student how to make a schedule. So when the flowchart popped out, I switched things around. I'm allowed to do that. In fact as long as the final result satisfies the people who asked me to solve the problem, I can do whatever I want to do.
On the one hand, systems thinking is a very creative activity that has few, if any, rules that you have to follow. On the other hand, your answer absolutely has to fit the facts and satisfy the people who are paying the bills. You find systems thinking in professions that require creative solutions to very specific and often difficult problems ... professions like law, medicine, computing, public relations, advertising and so on. In profession such as these, you can come at the problem any way that you want to, but in the end, you had better be right.
Where Am I Now?
This might seem to you to be a very complicated approach to solving a fairly simple problem, and most people would agree with you ... but here are a few reasons why someone might want to do it anyway.
Not Everyone Finds the Problem Simple
While some college students have no trouble at all in organizing their time, many students do. Here, for example, is the Managing Your Time page at the Academic Skills Center of Dartmouth University: "Many students discover the need to develop or hone their time management skills when they arrive at college." Dartmouth's information focuses on the need to make a flexible schedule ... much the same solution that I generated here.
If someone has this problem, and you just hand them a scheduling program for their computer, then you probably have not solved their problem. It's easy to say, "schedule your time" ... but it's much harder to actually do it. Our advice would be that you take the person through the process that you've seen here ... describe the problem, define the terms, build the model ... because the act of thinking up the model will help them understand what they need to do.
The Thinking Is More Important than the Model
I will keep repeating this, because it is the key idea in systems thinking. Most problems begin with a vague sense that "something isn't working" or "something is wrong." Gradually, the person or group of people come to identify the symptoms of the problem. This means that they can describe their discomfort ... but they cannot tell you exactly what is causing that discomfort.
So the first step in solving many problems is to gather data, make definitions, do a lot of thinking, and try to figure out what is actually going on. Only then can steps be taken to alter the situation and remove the cause of the problem. And frequently, once this process of observing and thinking is complete, the solution to the problem will be fairly obvious.
Maybe It's Required?
Many organizations require some form of problem analysis as a permanent part of their decision-making process. Someone who works in college student counseling or academic support services may need to do this kind of thinking each time they meet a student with academic problems.
Maybe It's an App?
The diagram that I produced earlier could be used as the first step in writing a computer program that would let students generate schedules on their smart phone or iPad. Is there a market for an app like that? Do a web search for "time management app" and see what you find.