2:30 PM – 3:45 PM | Room 61 (Lower level)

Fostering Innovation in Conservation Planning: A Collective Intelligence Approach with Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Antonie Jetter
Portland State University
Steven Gray, Alison Singer, Degen Gembarowski, and Josh Introne
Michigan State University
Lisa Ellsworth
Oregon State University

Prescribed fire is an important management tool for keeping ecosystems in balance and reducing risks, but it is currently not implemented on a large scale. Successful implementation requires developing networked collaboration between different sectoral experts and inter-institutional collaborations. Using the expert-based modeling method fuzzy cognitive mapping and individual surveys collected from a range of wildfire expert groups, we demonstrate how the collective domain expertise of heterogeneous decision-makers can be compared, aggregated, and ultimately used to develop emergent innovation that would not be possible by relying on the expertise of any one decision-making group alone.

Participatory Modeling with Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: Studying Veterans’ Perspectives on Access and Participation in Higher Education

Ronda Jenson, Alexis Petri, George Gotto, and Arden Day
University of Missouri – Kansas City
Antonie Jetter
Portland State University

Veterans are returning from deployment with military training, and often knowledge of sophisticated technology and field engineering experience, which has potential to support a transition from military to civilian careers in STEM fields. However, veterans and post-secondary education do not uniformly understand how and when to connect the experiences of military experience with future career. This study, funded by the National Science Foundation, focused on identifying the critical factors affecting veteran success in college and toward attaining employment. The study’s objective was the creation of a collaborative system model of veterans’ learning, participation, persistence, and success in STEM education.

Merging Participatory Research with Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping: Eliciting Responses Across a Variety of Complex Systems and Stakeholders

Alexis Petri, George Gotto, and Ronda Jenson
University of Missouri – Kansas City

The ways in which concept mapping and fuzzy cognitive mapping is described to participants and structured can affect the depth of knowledge gained through the process. The ways in which results are shared with stakeholders, from describing the resulting model to applying scenarios, requires purposeful consideration for stakeholder backgrounds. Drawing from examples including populations from youth to Naval Academy to seasoned professionals, this paper describes how to elicit responses and engage people in participatory modeling in such a way that participants grasp the concept of mapping and gain insight on the effect of complex systems on their lives.