The online classroom has eight weeks in each semester. Each week has a link for resources and discussion where the students access reading materials and articles and post a discussion posting respectively. Students respond to other students’ discussion posting after two days. The classroom has another link for application where some weeks have one application, and other have two for either individual or group work. There is also a term long group project that students do as a team. The group link allows the students to chat and share documents and then the team leader submits the final report.
A single loop system in the online classroom includes access and reading the week's resources, i.e., reading materials and articles and the discussion posting. The students desire to modify their actions according to the differences between their current status and their expected outcome. Access to materials helps them to learn and gain knowledge. The students are determined to acquire new concepts to achieve the desired state, i.e., being knowledgeable. The discussion posting is also another form of a single loop because the students post what they know and anticipate positive feedback from the rest of the students. Individual applications are also a form of a single loop. The student continuously asks themselves if they are doing everything right. The expectation is to perform well and pass the course units, but the results will only demonstrate the reached outcomes. The students, therefore, will modify their actions according to the difference between the two (Bacacsi, 2010).
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Double loop system in the online classroom
Students’ response to the discussion posting is a form of double loop system. The students think and analyze their processes asking several questions as to why a decision was reached in most cases; the students will ask what is going on and try to determine the pattern. Group projects and the long group project are also other forms of a double loop in the online classroom. The students analyze the problematic actions, and in most cases, they change the rules to alter the underlying cause of an action. When students engage in discussions concerning a matter, they are determined to understand the pattern and will question why their counterparts made such a decision. They will consider the assumptions, actions, and outcome of the discussion (Bacacsi, 2010).
Multi-loop system in the online classroom
The entire process in the online classroom can be termed as a multi-loop system. It involves the different single loop and double loops components in the class. In the online classroom, the students reflect on their thinking and the rules. They can understand themselves and make judgment about the entire process. The students use the materials to gain knowledge, discuss with their counterparts in the discussion posting, engage group members in the group project and participate in the individual or group work. The students learn through the reflection of what they learned in the course materials. They reflect on their perception concerning the rules and in some cases think that the rules should be changed. It allows the students to understand themselves and the institution offering the online classrooms. The loop focuses on the ability of the students to use single and double loop while challenging the existing framework. The students get to know new ways of learning methodologies challenging them to understand the big picture and relationship between the problem and the solution (Tosey, Visser & Saunders, 2012).
Methods that can be used to stabilize feedback loops
In the online classroom, the university and students can design programs that maintain the feedback loops. There is always a gap between the desired state and the actual level. The students want to pass the course units and manage the assignment on time versus their actual performance shows a gap that requires explicit corrective actions. Corrective actions should be taken to reduce the gap to a minimum level. Some of the strategies that can be employed include; enhancing feedback from the university, encouraging more group work and less of personal work. Involve the students in the development of the syllabus (Feedback Loop, n.d.).
References
Bacacsi, G. (2010). Mnaging crisis: Single Loop or double loop learning . Strategic management, 15 (3), 3-9
Feedback Loop. (n.d.). Retrieved October 02, 2017, from http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/FeedbackLoop.htm
Single-Loop and Double-Loop Learning Model. (n.d.). Retrieved October 02, 2017, from https://woca.afs.org/afs-announcements/b/icl-blog/posts/single-loop-and-double-loop-learning-model
Tosey, P., Visser, M., Saunders, M. (2012). The origins and conceptualisations of `triple-loop’ learning: a critical review Management Learning, 43 (3). 289 – 305.
