Course Code: BDES 3502
Academic Year: 2025-2026
Systems thinking is an approach to tackling complex, multidimensional and dynamic challenges sometimes called "wicked" or adaptable problems. In this course, students apply systems thinking mindset and strategies to large scale systems (e.g. healthcare, education, sustainability). Students will engage with systems by identifying stakeholders, objects and forces of the system, and how these connect and interact. They will practice engaging multiple and diverse perspectives and challenging existing mental models about "how things work" to gain a deeper, less biased and more inclusive understanding of the challenge. Practicing dynamic thinking, students will analyze patterns, relationships, linkages and loops within the system, and test their assumptions about the system and its behaviour. Taking a holistic view of the system will help students identify gaps and points of leverage where they can apply their design skills to intervene and improve the overall problem.