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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Developing a Systems Mindset by University of Colorado Boulder

4.3
stars
131 ratings

About the Course

A Systems Mindset teaches learners how to interact effectively as service providers, consultants, researchers, developers, or other professionals providing a service or product to a person, group, or community. This course provides the basic foundations for policy makers, real estate developers, consultants, government agencies, engineers, and non-profit organizations the first steps in engaging complex problems where engagement with communities and stakeholders is necessary. Being a successful professional requires creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial thinking, and to continually have a problem-solving mindset. Yes, absolutely! But you also need to be a listener. You need to truly value the community and stakeholders - the ones who have the most to gain and lose from your actions. It is important for you to listen, learn what is important, and then act. This course will highlight the urgency for you to have a systems mindset to engage complex problems for a systems perspective, meaning that you have approach problems from different angles, scales and perspectives. This class is the first step in creating that mindset and for you to effectively engage – from receiving the “ask” for “assistance”, to orienting yourself to the issue, understanding the community, and developing a project plan. Students will learn how to use a systems mindset to understand scaled systems, nested hierarchies, and the interactions between social and environmental systems. Students will also learn practical skills and techniques that build rapport, trust, and buy-in....

Top reviews

AC

Nov 7, 2021

Good course on leadership and how to build your own brand. A little bit more focused on how to do project proposals and less about leadership within an organizational structure but still helpful.

CM

Nov 12, 2020

Thorough and accessible course, relatively quick too. Enjoyed it a lot. Will be taking the other courses of the specialisation now!

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26 - 38 of 38 Reviews for Developing a Systems Mindset

By Claudia E Z V

Sep 27, 2022

Muy bueno

By Andrey R

Apr 15, 2020

The course itself is nice, I really liked it and learned some useful concepts. It would be particularly good for project managers, consulters in area regional development, world heritage, social projects etc. However, minus two stars are for somewhat useless intermediary tasks and absolutely obscure final assignment grading system! Twice I failed it because it is unclear for others how to grade it. The system is deficient and even unfinished. I wasted several days, resubmitting the same work until by chance it happened that all three auditors managed to grade it correctly. I know it for sure, because I had myself problems when grading assignments of others and because comments to my own work were always good! Please fix the grading system of this course.

By Deepinti W

May 5, 2020

The course is good for beginners, with great content. The format of delivery is great - it includes simple, practical examples which are explained well.

I have 2 issues with the course 1) No response on technical queries raised (I had asked for additional reference materials on a certain topic since I could not understand it very well from the lecture, nor from answers submitted by other participants) 2) The grading system seems to be faulty. Few participants raised the query on discussion forum but they were not addressed.

By James S

Sep 6, 2021

this felt like it would be a better course in person. There’s good info, but it’s between some filler. I’d still suggest it to anyone introducing themselves to community work; but as a supplement to a more thorough project management course.

By Flemming R

Aug 2, 2021

There should be a greater variation in the format so that it is not exclusively videos with the same teacher. There are also many repetitions through the three courses.

By Lavina C

Jun 22, 2021

The course was ok

By Jesiana A

Dec 20, 2023

Good

By Ashley O

Jul 19, 2020

While the content has been positive, my experience with peer grading has not been great. The course urges you to be generous when grading the work of other students as English may not be the first language. However, I think my own assignment was not as easily understood for this reason so I was marked down to a less than passing grade. I have now redacted a lot of content to simplify my assignment and resubmitted hoping it will receive higher marks this time. Not a great experience to spend a lot of time crafting a quality assignment and sit waiting for people to review the work over multiple iterations.

By Evangelia T

Jan 2, 2021

The lecturer is hard to follow, he does not present organized arguments. Moreover, while the material of the first week is relevant, the issues covered during the second week are issues that did not need a whole week dedicated to them. Generally, the course needs better organization of the material to keep the interest of the learner.

By Miguel B

Jun 23, 2020

The content is good, but the instructor doesn't seem very engaging. Also, some of the quiz questions are not properly set, meaning you mark the correct answer and you get a message saying the answer is correct and wrong at the same time. The grading rubric for final assignments are not clear either.

By Sarala M

Feb 18, 2022

This course is mistitled. It should be, how to be a good consultant using a systems approach.

Not much substance.

By Shivani K

Jun 8, 2020

One of the worst course i have ever encountered. Lectures are mindless, in-substantive, irrelevant and chaotic. Corse itself has very little to do with understanding systems. This course should be removed.

By Barry W

Nov 27, 2023

very confused on how to submit my project proposal. I also keep getting prompted to keep reviewing several other's proposals and now up to 8 of them