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The REDINGE2 – Reengineering Engineering Teaching, version 2 – project seeks to transform engineering education practices at the University of los Andes (UNIANDES) by using technology-based active learning strategies in courses from different disciplines that are to be reformed using a Big-ideas approach. Studies from this two-year project (2017-2018) seek to solve three main questions: What changes in engineering teaching conceptions, methods, tools and practices could be generated by reengineering courses using a Big-ideas approach? What changes in key conditions of learning environments have the students perceived in courses that use a Big-ideas approach? What lessons can be derived from the initial studies of REDINGE2’s pilot experiences?

The REDINGE2 project was conceived as a technology-based educational transformation initiative. It is the Faculty of Engineering at UNIANDES’ explicit intention to move engineering teaching from being content-focused to being big-ideas focused. It also wants to migrate from teacher-centered teaching strategies to student- and group-centered approaches. Additionally, this project intends to enrich engineering education ecologies with digital resources by integrating experiential, flexible and collaborative digital learning environments with traditional classroom/workshop/library/home/work learning settings. To promote this organic change, the project implemented a facilitation-from-the side strategy, which redesigned 14 engineering courses: each was given a two-year grant from the Office of the Dean of Engineering to rethink teaching practices and redesign the course. A cybernetic evaluation system was embedded in the life cycle of the transformation process that could support decision-making through each of the project’s stages (Stufflebeam, 1971). Questions of interest in this study are provided with information using triangulation of data at different times during each course’s redesign process.

After a year and half of the two-year REDINGE2 project (2017-2018), it is possible to say the following three research questions are fully solved. Concerning Question #1: What changes in engineering teaching conceptions, methods, tools and practices contribute to reengineering courses when using a Big-ideas approach? Participating teaching staff have demonstrated changes in their teaching conceptions, methods and resources, which can be attributed to their exposure to active-learning strategies supported by digital technologies. In fact, each one has redesigned and pilot tested at least one restructured learning unit for one of their courses according to the proposed Big-ideas approach; in addition, most admit to already having adjusted their teaching practices by changing their mindset regarding learning and how to promote it. Concerning Question #2: What changes in key conditions of learning environments have the students perceived in courses that have been redesigned using a Big-ideas approach? Data collected from students and participating staff members, both before the redesign and throughout this process, have provided teachers and students with feedback concerning perceived changes in learning environments. This has had positive results and provided opportunities for improvement. Concerning Question #3: What lessons can be derived from REDINGE2’s pilot experiences? Lessons from this project are multi-dimensional and there are organizational, pedagogic, technological and cultural considerations. A decalogue of critical success factors was established, which considered the things that must go right to successfully accomplish proposed educational transformations.

This study is a good case of educational transformations in engineering teaching. No generalizations should be made, but it shows that similar processes of planned change can be made in tertiary science, math, engineering and technology (SMET) education.

The lessons learned from this experience are very valuable for higher education decision-makers who want to innovate by using learning ecologies in their institutions. In addition, theoretical considerations that illuminate the innovation process become very useful to help provide a foundation to similar interventions.

A non-conventional approach to integrate digital technologies in higher education teaching is the most significant contribution this experience has made. Its focus has been to transform educational practices with pedagogically sound uses of digital technologies instead of just integrating technologies in current SMET teaching practices. Facilitation-from-the-side and embedded cybernetic evaluation through the transformation process are key ideas that add value to organic change processes.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study of the application of cybernetic thinking by the learning and development unit in a national branch of a large multinational company to help move towards its strategic objective of becoming a learning organization.

A work-based action research approach was adopted. Through a series of action research cycles, the paper presents the interplay between developments in the organization and several strands of cybernetic thinking.

Cybernetic thinking was incrementally integrated to create a new support framework for developing a learning organization.

As a case study the work reported has limited generality. Users of the support framework need to take account of and, to some degree, replicate the specific conditions that led to its success. These included the strategic aim of becoming a learning organization and supportive senior management.

The case study and framework will be of greatest use to other organizations that have the strategic intent of becoming a learning organization, but seek guidance on implementation.

Cybernetic thinking was used to create feedback loops from internal and external conditions, to enhance learning, performance and adaptivity. This involved all employees in their and their organization's future development.

The paper's value offers a concrete instance of applying cybernetic thinking to the creation of a learning organization, a task often found to be difficult in practice. This has been abstracted into a support framework.

To explore the usefulness of the cybernetic approach to support development programs by offering a theoretical framework that helps us to re‐understand development and measuring systems.

The paper presents a summary of Beer's theory for organisational development and measuring systems, shows examples of application in design and implementation of socio‐economic development programs in Colombia, and uses them to explore the usefulness of the approach in this field.

Analysis of the reported examples shows a clear indication of the usefulness of Beer's approach to design and measure development programs. It reveals an important field for applied research that could benefit from further applications of the approach.

The experiences analysed here showed the strength or alliances between government, universities and development agencies, for applied research. It makes clear that more long‐term oriented projects are required to fully implement innovative approaches like the one described.

Applying a cybernetic approach in this field implies changing from top‐down to bottom‐up design; wider involvement of stakeholders to agree on critical measurements; changes from emphasis in technological and managerial improvements, to improvements in learning and self‐control tools for the developing communities.

Even if there has been agreement on the convenience of experimenting with more holistic approaches to socio‐economic development, few researchers show the potential of the cybernetic approach, as this paper does.

The transition to the information age is shifting the decision‐making authority structure in organizations from political systems and subjective appraisals to management systems and objective personnel evaluations. The critical need to adopt the management system and objective evaluation procedures is based on the truism that timely, relevant, accurate feedback is a primary motivator of people.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how pattern recognition can contribute to the behavioral options of a goal‐oriented system.

A functional approach is used to develop the necessary cybernetic structures of a pattern recognition unit that can store observations as new standards for pattern matching by itself and can later apply them to recognize patterns in incoming sensor data.

Combining such a structure for pattern recognition with a feedback system shows that the resulting system can only deal with known patterns. To deal with novel patterns this structure has to be added to an adaptive system that can develop system‐specific behavior. Such a system has to able to initiate a trial and error process to test new behavior towards new patterns and to evaluate its effect on the highest, existential goal‐values of the system.

A system with a pattern recognition unit that can set new standards for pattern matching by itself is identified as the point of departure where not‐programmable and unpredictable individual behavior starts. Dealing with newly‐recognized pattern requires individual behavioral solutions and a system‐specific evaluation of the achieved results in relation to the highest goal‐values of the system. Here internal “emotional” criteria to select behavior emerge as a cybernetic necessity.

The paper is the third in a series of three on a cybernetic theory distinguishing system capable of pre‐programmed adaptation, system‐specific adaptation and learning. It determines the cybernetic starting point of individual psychology.

Illustrates the socio‐cybernetic basis and the contradictions inherent in the use of total quality management methodologies to support computer‐based information system implementation and usage. A resonant theme within information system theory and practice in the 1990s has been the desire to identify the key features of the “virtual” or the “networked” organization. Many descriptions centre on ideas of how to rebuild the firm, create a new configuration which removes lengthy managerial hierarchies and develop an organization characterized by a narrow, computer‐supported managerial structure and multiple horizontal linkages both within the organization and with its customers. Describes the attempt of a service‐sector organization to implement such a programme of change. This involved both the introduction of new information technology and a programme for organizational restructuring which was designed to establish an organizational vision and culture of customer service and create new market relations within the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate necessary cybernetic structures that allow complex adaptive systems to develop system‐specific behavior.

Following Holland's concept of “adaptive agents”, it is argued that the development of system‐specific forms of goal‐oriented behavior requires a decision to deviate from some default behavior and to trigger any new one, and a mechanism to evaluate the goal‐orientation of this new behavior. Using a functional approach cybernetic structures are developed that are able to carry out these two tasks. Then these structures are added as subsystems to the structure of a simple one‐level adaptive system.

The paper finds that a hierarchical adaptive system can recognize with a higher level controller, if lower level decisions lead to an insufficient degree of goal‐approximation and can use preprogrammed higher level decisions to intervene on the lower level to trigger new system‐specific actions. An additional controller can evaluate the “success” achieved with these new actions and can select the “best” actions found, i.e. the behavior leading to the highest degree of goal‐approximation.

The paper shows necessary cybernetic structures that are seen as core of all complex adaptive systems able to develop system‐specific behavior. It is suggested that the underlying basic concept of “success” understood as a degree of goal‐approximation holds for any adaptive, learning or otherwise improving endeavor.

The paper is the second in a series of three on a cybernetic theory distinguishing system capable of preprogrammed adaptation, system‐specific adaptation, and learning. It shows necessary cybernetic structures that a system can develop individual actions.

Through a survey of 200 employees working in five of the thirty establishments analysed in previous research about the microeconomic effects of reducing the working time (Cahier 25), the consequences on employees of such a reduction can be assessed; and relevant attitudes and aspirations better known.

This paper seeks to describe and analyse an approach to course design as part of a strategic, technology‐inspired, cross‐university intervention to widen participation. A curriculum framework was developed for students who wished to make their work the focus of their study and could not readily access current university provision. A deliberate assumption was made that this would require a technologically inspired response to teaching, learning and assessment.

The approach taken was one of action research, by planning the curriculum framework, validating a course, delivery and review through interviews. Cybernetics was applied post‐hoc to analyse the data generated.

Staff found the framework a useful source of inspiration and critique for current practices, although established practice and preconceptions could render the framework meaningless. The ideas in the framework are not enough to change the institution – authoritative sanction may be needed. The cybernetic concepts of variety and its absorption proved useful in analysing the framework, and highlighted weaknesses in the design of the framework regarding the organisation of teaching.

Clarity about strategic purpose when making a change intervention is vital – in this instance raising the level of critical debate was more successful than recruitment. The establishment of an independent unit may be a more successful strategy than embedding university‐wide. Further work is required to understand how to market novel approaches. The action research shows that the university has the capability to develop curriculum designs that offer new groups of students access to higher education while improving their work practice.

The findings from interview confirm the value that peers attach to this development. Although the pedagogical design in this action research is based on previous work, the cybernetic analysis and conclusions are new.

This paper investigates the extent to which externally led benchmarking may have facilitated performance management design and use in Malaysian local authorities.

A longitudinal qualitative study of local authorities in Malaysia was undertaken, comprising interviews with key officers during the introduction of process-based key performance indicators (KPIs), and following the imposition of benchmarking (i.e. relative performance evaluation) on local authorities. Complexity theory was used in the analysing and theorising of data.

External benchmarking mechanisms facilitated only operational performance management, with strategic performance management merely ceremonially adopted. As the focus was on mainly operational KPIs, strategic goals were not translated into detailed action plans and outputs at departmental level. In addition, operational and strategic performance management packages were decoupled. Thus, the efforts of external actors resulted in operational controls suppressing rather than facilitating strategic processes.

There is a need to transition from purely externally led benchmarking to internally driven benchmarking in local government, whereby benchmarking forms part of the interactive performance management mechanisms that lead to institutional learning and improvement.

Benchmarking activities should be based on comprehensive analyses of performance management design and use. A reflective approach to continuously identify gaps or weaknesses in performance management systems will enable local government administrators to improve systems and processes in a timely manner to meet stakeholder needs.

This paper explains the impact of central government policy and benchmarking initiatives on other levels of government. We have built on previous literature by examining the connection between external benchmarking and internal performance management design and use in local government. In relation to this, and following calls for research on holistic performance management, the integration between operational and strategic performance management packages was also examined.