Student Onboarding

Welcome to the CAS Lab team. We are thrilled to have you on board! Below you find everything you need for getting started with the lab. Of course, if you come across other resources that you find helpful on your learning journey that are not included here, please let us know and we would be happy to share them with future students.

1. Learning Complexity

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The first — and arguably most important — step is wrapping your head around some basic complexity theory concepts. We have compiled these resources to help get you started.

  1. What are complex adaptive systems? - A brief video introducing complex system theory (produced by CAS Lab members)
  2. CAS Learning Modules - A set of introductory and interactive online modules that explain the basic concepts of systems and complexity. Curated and developed for (and by) undergraduate students joining the CAS Lab
  3. Complexity Theory in Research: Why and how to adopt a systems perspective - Introductory presentation by James Shelley, Katherine Lawless and Jonathan De Souza
  4. Learning, Teaching, and Resources - A curated list of external resources and videos for learning about complexity theory
  5. Examples of CAS in Research - Western University faculty share reflections about their interests and research in complex adaptive systems to provide real-world examples
  6. Explaining Complex Adaptive Systems using Social Groups - Siobhan Bruce (4995F/4996G practicum 2020-21) explores friendship as a way to introduce the basic principles of a complex system
  7. Systems Thinker Notebook - An introduction to basic complex system concepts by James Shelley

Literature Review Resources

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CAS Lab student projects often begin with conducting a literature review. Here are some introductory resources to help get started. It is a good idea to make sure you have a functional knowledge of complex system concepts before beginning literature searches.

  1. Literature Review Tutorial MME9642 - An introduction to literature reviews provided by Western Libraries
  2. Consult with a librarian - After you have wrapped your head around complexity theory, it might be helpful to build a research strategy in consultation with a reference librarian
  3. Western Libraries' Research Guides BY SUBJECT - If you have never conducted a literature review before, explore Western's Citation Databases
  4. Tour the Disciplines - These articles will give you a sense of what other student projects have produced and might give you some ideas for various approaches you might want to consider
  5. Laypersons Literature Review Guide (PDF) - An overview provided by Joshua Yi (a 4300F student on the 2020/2021 CEL that reviewed complexity and healthcare in an earlier project)
  6. What You Should Know BEFORE You Start a Systematic/Scoping Review (Western login required) - Student-led literature reviews in the CAS Lab are not systematic or scoping reviews, but it doesn't hurt for you to familarize yourself with these terms, since you will probably interact with these kinds of reviews in your own analysis

Welcome to the team

Beyond the horizon of your project or placement witgh the CAS Lab, undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to join as lab members to stay in the loop with how your project is further utilized, shared, and iterated long after your placement is complete. (Plus, it looks good on a resume.) Email caslab@uwo.ca for instructions on how to join as a student lab member.

Once again, thanks for joining us for this placement. As you can tell from our history to date, students have been a tremendously important animating energy behind the inception of this lab. Your contributions are highly valued and support important ongoing research development.

We look forward to learning along with you this term.