Establishing the Psychometric Properties of the Multirater Assessment for Systems Thinking
Abstract
Systems thinking enables understanding of how various parts of a dynamic situation fit together to create a holistic picture. Army leaders need to hone their systems thinking skills to overcome the Army's challenges. ADP 6-22: Army Leadership and the Profession (2019) discusses the need for Army leaders to understand the systems and subsystems in their organizations, and to apply systems thinking to enable them to anticipate and prevent potential problems. In The Army People Strategy (2019), systems thinking is identified as one of the complex cognitive skills that Army leaders need to function optimally in the Information Age. Also, both The Army People Strategy and the 2021 Army Modernization Strategy articulated that the Army would update its leader development and education processes to increase critical, creative, and systems thinking so that future Army leaders are prepared for the complexities of multi-domain operations. Professional Military Education institutions and Combat Training Centers prepare Army leaders for the systems thinking rigors of their jobs by integrating systems thinking in various courses, programs, and warfighter exercises. However, to date, there are no validated and reliable mechanisms in place to provide Army leaders with standardized feedback on their current systems thinking skills and how they can improve as systems thinkers. Such feedback can help Army leaders to enhance their professional development. To support the Army People Strategy 2020-2028 Implementation Plan for accelerating development of leader effectiveness, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences developed the Multirater Assessment for Systems Thinking (MAST). This assessment tool was designed to give Army leaders a behaviorally anchored score to provide feedback on systems thinking proficiencies and guidance on where the leasers can improve as systems thinkers. This proposed presentation will describe and illustrate MAST.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 26, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1196122
Entities
People
- Alexxa Bessey
- Ava Loer
Organizations
- Aptima (United States)
- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences