Soft Systems Methodology in an Educational Context—Enhancing Students Perception and Understanding

This study was performed within a graduate course in the Organizational Development and Consulting graduate program. The course draws a comparison between the systems analysis processes used in computing systems (hard systems) and the organizational analysis methodologies applied in soft systems, such as Checklands' Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). Since most students' previous academic experience is in social sciences, abstract concepts related to computing systems were difficult to comprehend. The SSM that is mainly used for unstructured and poorly defined problems was exercised for identifying the students' difficulties. Using SSM for analyzing the students' perceived learning system revealed their specific difficulties, while providing a real life example on using the methodology. After understanding the students' difficulties, the course structure was changed for better addressing these difficulties. This paper describes the course, the methodology and the results obtained after implementing the proposed changes to the course.