Two leading camps for studying social complexity are case-based methods (CBM) and agent-based modelling (ABM). Despite the potential epistemological links between 'cases' and 'agents,' neither camp has leveraged their combined strengths. A bridge can be built, however, by drawing on Abbott's insight that 'agents are cases doing things', Byrne's…

While evaluation capacity building (ECB) may hold promise for fostering evaluation, little is known about how it is operationalized within a network. This article presents initial findings from a National Science Foundation-funded research project (Complex Adaptive Systems as a Model for Network Evaluations) that used concepts from complex…

This brief explains how four important system design initiatives frequently promoted by state and local education agencies for school improvement can be implemented through an intentional systematic approach for a powerful, positive impact on student outcomes. As technical assistance providers with expertise in four specific frameworks for…

As science and technology create an ecosystem that is becoming increasingly more knowledge-intensive, complex, and interconnected, the next generation science standards include systems thinking and systems modeling among 21st skills that should be fostered. We examined the effect of an online cross-disciplinary learning process on the development…

The research on education philanthropy typically characterizes foundations as practicing either "traditional" or "strategic" philanthropy. These labels are used to indicate divergent ways of thinking about the impact of grants and approaches to grantmaking between the two models. Drawing on a theoretical framework informed by…

Understanding molecular processes and coordinating the various activities across levels of organization in biological systems is a complicated task, yet many curricular guidelines indicate that undergraduate students should master it. Employing mechanistic reasoning can facilitate describing and investigating biological phenomena. Biofilms are an…

While research suggests that effective implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) increases student achievement and that effective utilization of instructional coaches (ICs) supports teachers' capacity, there is limited research regarding the role of ICs in supporting the system-wide change effort of PLC implementation and…

Science educators highlight the importance of developing systems thinking (ST) and futures thinking (FT) for students to make decisions and to be active citizens that address socioscientific problems. The dimensions related to FT take in this study were three implied in ST and two in the appropriation of the future. The aim of this study is to…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how school counselors described their experience and practice of involving parents when facilitating cognitive-behavioral therapy school-based interventions for students with anxiety and depression, in California. This was considered important. Not only does the American School…

The debate about mental illness and the importance of good mental health especially in the classroom has surged. Promoting child mental health is a global priority, and educators have an important role to play in mitigating this public health crisis. Early identification, accurate diagnosis, and effective treatment of mental health disorders can…

Powerful arguments have been made recently to advocate for the introduction of systems thinking in chemistry education to equip graduates to address sustainability challenges. This contribution describes systems thinking activities and an assessment tool that enables meaningful learning in first-year organic chemistry as students engage with the…

This paper examines the transformative potential of integrating transdisciplinarity and systems thinking into educational practices, anchored in a participatory initiative by the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK'IT). The study centres on engaging master's and doctoral students in co-creating educational proposals,…

In this research, we used Community-Based Participatory Research, Ecological Systems Theory and active interdisciplinary social advocacy perspectives as part of our theoretical framework. Our sample consisted of 530 counselling undergraduate students with 481 consenting to participate by sharing the most important main facilitators and barriers…

For many years, creativity research had been yielding contradictory results. More recently, these results have come to be regarded as creativity paradoxes. This research reviews a growing body of evidence that highly creative people tend to operate, either simultaneously or dynamically, at extremes along continuums, where the extremes are…

Our understanding of leaders and the role they play in organizations and society is changing, which has important implications for leadership education. At the turn of the century, society began to move from a mechanistic understanding of leadership to a more ecological one. The latter, ecological approach to leadership is characterized by…