This exploratory paper seeks to shed light on the methodological challenges of education systems research. There is growing consensus that interventions to improve learning outcomes must be designed and studied as part of a broader system of education, and that learning outcomes are affected by a complex web of dynamics involving different inputs,…

This article, which presents an interdisciplinary research agenda grounded in a constructivist institutional approach, begins by unpacking relevant terms. It explains the new institutional approach in political science that simultaneously narrows the focus and broadens the scope of political research by encouraging a return to the…

A new vision set forth by the "Framework for K-12 Science Education" (National Research Council, 2012) highlights the importance of developing students' abilities to think about systems as opposed to isolated facts. However, little evidence exists on how to foster students' conceptualization of systems. It has been argued that…

Agent-based models combine data and theory during both development and use of the model. As models have become increasingly data driven, it is easy to start thinking of agent-based modelling as an empirical method, akin to statistical modelling, and reduce the role of theory. We argue that both types of information are important where the past is…

This paper discusses the instructional design experiences and processes shared by a multi-disciplinary group--including more than a dozen faculty, staff, and students--while developing a series of online courses on Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for professional engineers, a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The team…

The National Association of School Psychology recognizes the role that family engagement holds on school functioning and student outcomes. This article describes a qualitative study using constructivist grounded theory to explore systems-level family engagement practices in urban schools that implemented a Comprehensive Behavioral Health Model…

India is home to the largest population of adolescents in the world, of which nearly half experience one or more adverse childhood experiences. Despite rising interest in building trauma-sensitive school systems globally, such initiatives are limited in India. This paper presents the development, implementation, and acceptability of the Fostering…

This study investigates the perceptions and responses of educational leaders in K12 settings concerning the mental health needs of students who have been impacted by Opioid Use Disorder. We adopt a bio-ecological view to frame the participants' lived experiences. Employing a basic qualitative design, we interviewed ten educational leaders of…

This collection summarises reflections from a group of Department for International Development (DFID) education advisers, spanning a number of different contexts and aspects of the topic of education projects that are working at scale to improve learning outcomes. In the first contribution, Gibbs shares a case study of an approach used to track…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to undertake a cross-comparative inquiry into Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) related to governance, initiatives and practices in initial teacher education (ITE) across four countries with very different contexts -- Sweden, Scotland, Canada and Australia. It provides insights into issues arising…

The main aim of this study is to teach students to take a systems perspective in understanding complex biological problems. Two lessons were designed and tested in two secondary classes (15- to 16-year-old students), using a lesson study approach. Three students from each class were observed more closely when visualizing and reasoning about two…

This paper offers a review of the research on children, schooling, and disasters in order to identify critical information for the field of education and the practice of educational research in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. What do we know about the experiences of children and their interactions with schools during and following a natural…

Systems thinking and abstract thinking are important skills for engineers in general and hardware and software engineers in particular. Systems thinking emphasises the interdependence of system components and their synergy. Abstract thinking permits one to focus on the significant details of the current perspective, while temporarily neglecting…

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is purportedly the only L2 pedagogy rooted in SLA theory and research and is unique in its psycholinguistic, ecological and pedagogical validity. Theoretical entities such as Processability Theory (Pienemann & Lenzing, 2020), the cognitive-interactionist approach (Gass & Mackey, 2020), and emergentism…

This article proposes an approach based on experiments to teach optimization technique (OT) courses in the Systems Engineering curricula at undergraduate level. Artificial intelligence techniques in terms of nature-inspired optimization algorithms and neural networks are inserted in the lecture and laboratory parts of the syllabus. The experiments…