TetzMathPortfolio

Complexity science is a relatively new field in its application to education (Davis & Renert, 2009; Davis & Simmt, 2006; Renert & Davis, 2010) but it has long been used in various fields including the field of ecology.

Looking back, I can trace my understandings of a complex adaptive system, outside of my family, to starting an activity at age eight. At eight, I became part of a group of people participating in an activity that required me to:

• read a vast quantity of material at a fine detail level of comprehension,

•  cooperate with up to 7 other people at the same time,

•  learn to support others,

•  learn to value the unique qualities and contributions of others,

•  learn to put the good of the group before the good of myself,

•   recognize that a group of people all aligned to the same goal accomplish more than they could alone,

•  pull my own weight,

•  ask for help when I needed it  and offer help when it was time to reciprocate,

•  accurately communicate my needs and what I was going to do,

•  create supported arguments to argue both for and against a proposed action,

•  continually integrate new information into an existing understanding,

•  understand tactics and advantage,

•  map accurately using scale factors,

•  convert units,

•  use metal math,

•  understand probability,

•  use my imagination,

•  and slay dragons.