Systems thinking is a powerful concept in biology which can help students understand how the diversity of contexts in the biology curriculum all have similar underlying characteristics. However, it is not currently a common feature in secondary education as it is not part of the National Curriculum of England. Research on systems thinking has…

This study established whether 12 South African secondary school physics students had incorrect conceptions of basic magnetism and if they had, to what extent they consistently applied such conceptions. Different scenarios in the form of thought experiments were presented in a clinical interview approach. A complex systems perspective underpinned…

Contribution: This article proposes a new theoretical model with a goal to develop future human computational thinking (CT) in foundational computer science (CS) education. The model blends six critical types of thinking, i.e., logical thinking, systems thinking, sustainable thinking, strategic thinking, creative thinking, and responsible thinking…

In interdisciplinary studies, multiple definitions and practices proliferate. Interdisciplinarians such as William H. Newell claim that complex systems theory provides the rationale that we need to guide reform. However, complex systems theory alone cannot rationalize interdisciplinarity and inform what Ernest Boyer calls the scholarship of…

In Fall 2016, the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chartered the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) initiative. NEET aims to educate young engineers to build the new machines and systems that will address societal needs of the 21st century. Students enter NEET in their sophomore year and join…

One line of research on student understanding of complex systems has tended to emphasize discontinuities between common misconceptions and relatively more sophisticated understandings. Other work has focused on instruction while acknowledging the existence of other ways of understanding complex systems, but less emphasis has been on examining the…

Constructed responses can be used to assess the complexity of student thinking and can be evaluated using rubrics. The two most typical rubric types used are holistic and analytic. Holistic rubrics may be difficult to use with expert-level reasoning that has additive or overlapping language. In an attempt to unpack complexity in holistic rubrics…

The main goal of this research is to study the effect of modelling with system dynamics on learning. Specifically, this research studies if using inductive or deductive learning methods applied during modelling with system dynamics has any effect on problem solving skills of students. This research has three other goals: Firstly, the successful…

Policy evaluation focuses on the assessment of policy-related personal, family, and societal changes or benefits that follow as a result of the interventions, services, and supports provided to those persons to whom the policy is directed. This article describes a systematic approach to policy evaluation based on an evaluation framework and an…

Purpose: Qualitative researchers are often confronted with a dilemma of selecting an appropriate approach within which to situate their research. This has led to successive attempts by qualitative researchers in the built environment (BE) to combine two dominant approaches -- deductive and inductive; in the conduct of their inquiry. Such attempts…

In this paper, we present a novel approach to defining, teaching, and assessing creativity by examining its origins and delineating the processes involved. The rationale for introducing this framework developed from studying existing thinking and questioning the current metrics for measuring creativity, which we posit are unfit for purpose. We…

The use of explicit programme theory to guide evaluation is widely recommended. However, practitioners and other partnering stakeholders often initiate programmes based on implicit theories, leaving researchers to explicate them before commencing evaluation. The current study aimed to apply a systematic method to undertake this process. We…

Physiology demands systems thinking: reasoning within and between levels of biological organization and across different organ systems. Many physiological mechanisms explain how structures and their properties interact at one level of organization to produce emergent functions at a higher level of organization. Current physiology principles, such…

Placed in the larger context of broadening the engagement with systems dynamics and complexity theory in school-aged learning and teaching, this paper is intended to introduce, situate, and illustrate--with results from the use of network supported participatory simulations in classrooms--a stance we call "embedded complementarity" as an…

Professors bemoan the great difficulty students have understanding the complexity of their disciplines or functional specializations. Many non-traditional students have work and family commitments that limit the time needed to reflect professionally and to master these concepts. This disconnect has persisted despite decades of work developing more…