[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Map-Activate-Check: A Systems Thinking-Based Approach to Curriculum and Program Design

## Details

**Authors** Solin J

**Year** 2023

**Publisher** Journal of Systems Thinking 3(1):1-10

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Systems Science

**Secondary disciplines** Education

**Reading level** intermediate

**Kind of engagement** scholarly

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.54120/jost.0000036) 
10.54120/jost.0000036

## In authors' words

### Abstract

Map-Activate-Check (MAC) is a systems thinking based curriculum and program design strategy that integrates cognition, learning, and evaluation. MAC has been applied to diverse situations including formal and non-formal youth education, adult learning, program development and evaluation, and community programming, and in varying scales from a single lesson or presentation to an entire unit or program. The fields of cognition, learning, and evaluation are all highly researched and developed fields. MAC builds relationships among these distinct and often isolated fields to provide a tool that helps practitioners develop effective learning experiences and programs. MAC offers a structured approach to curriculum and program design that integrates systems thinking into education and enhances learning experiences.

### What they set out to do (purpose)

A chapter presenting Map-Activate-Check, a systems-thinking-based curriculum and program design strategy that integrates cognition, learning, and evaluation.

### What they found (results)

Building relationships among three highly developed but isolated fields gives practitioners a structured tool for designing effective learning experiences at any scale, from a single lesson to a whole program.

## Commentary

### In short

Describes Map-Activate-Check, a systems thinking method for designing curricula and programs that ties together cognition, learning and evaluation.

### Response

Published in the Handbook of Systems Thinking (Cabrera, Cabrera & Midgley, eds., 2023), a volume built on the premise that systems thinking now has a universal theory—DSRP-484. Its contents were selected on that basis by its editorial team in concert with a team of advisors.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R

## Refers to

- [Handbook of Systems Thinking](https://dsrpevidence.org/element/382)

## Questions it bears on

- Q17. [What is transfer (T)?](https://dsrpevidence.org/question/transfer)
- Q25. [Does practice in organization (O) increase mental fitness?](https://dsrpevidence.org/question/o-practice-works)
- Q27. [Does measuring mental fitness improve it?](https://dsrpevidence.org/question/measuring-improves)
- Q1001. [What is "systems mapping"?](https://dsrpevidence.org/question/what-systems-mapping)

**How to cite this** Solin J (2023). Map-Activate-Check: A Systems Thinking-Based Approach to Curriculum and Program Design. Journal of Systems Thinking 3(1):1-10.