Development of system thinking skills in the context of earth system education
Abstract
Abstract The current study deals with the development of system thinking skills at the junior high school level. The sample population included about 50 eighth‐grade students from two different classes of an urban Israeli junior high school who studied an earth systems‐based curriculum that focused on the hydro cycle. The study addressed the following research questions: (a) Could the students deal with complex systems?; (b) What has influenced the students' ability to deal with system perception?; and (c) What are the relationship among the cognitive components of system thinking? The research combined qualitative and quantitative methods and involved various research tools, which were implemented in order to collect the data concerning the students' knowledge and understanding before, during, and following the learning process. The findings indicated that the development of system thinking in the context of the earth systems consists of several sequential stages arranged in a hierarchical structure. The cognitive skills that are developed in each stage serve as the basis for the development of the next higher‐order thinking skills. The research showed that in spite of the minimal initial system thinking abilities of the students most of them made some meaningful progress in their system thinking skills, and a third of them reached the highest level of system thinking in the context of the hydro cycle. Two main factors were found to be the source of the differential progress of the students: (a) the students' individual cognitive abilities, and (b) their level of involvement in the knowledge integration activities during their inquiry‐based learning both indoors and outdoors. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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In Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), the systems boundary is not indicated, so implicitly the water cycle of the whole earth is considered.
“The systems boundary is not indicated, so that it seems that implicitly the water cycle of the whole earth is considered.”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
Learning outcomes in empirical studies are sometimes disappointing, while other studies present promising results regarding students systems thinking abilities.
“Second, a closer analysis of empirical studies shows that learning outcomes are sometimes disappointing, while other studies present promising results regarding students systems thinking abilities (Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion, 2005;Sommer, 2005;Evagorou et al., 2009).”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion, 2005
Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005) define systems thinking as a set of system-thinking skills in the context of the water cycle system without referring explicitly to a systems theory.
“The authors define systems thinking as a set of system-thinking skills in the context of the water cycle system without referring explicitly to a systems theory.”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
Systems thinking is defined as a set of skills in Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), although most skills include a cognitive component.
“Systems thinking is defined as a set of skills, although most skills include a cognitive component (1.Cognitive skills perspective).”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
Students in Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005) are invited to construct a water cycle from its constituting parts.
“Furthermore, students are invited to construct a water cycle from its constituting parts (3.Component perspective).”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
Modeling is not explicitly addressed as part of systems thinking in Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005).
“Modeling is not explicitly addressed as part of systems thinking.”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
In Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), general characteristics of systems are not identified.
“General characteristics of systems are not identified.”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), Eilam and Reisfeld (2017), and Hmelo-Silver et al. (2017) start with identification of the structural components involved in the phenomenon to be studied.
“Also Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), Eilam and Reisfeld (2017), and Hmelo-Silver et al. (2017) start with identification of the structural components involved in the phenomenon to be studied.”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
In the four selected studies, the number of systems thinking perspectives recognized was two in Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), three in Verhoeff et al. (2008), four in Hmelo-Silver et al. (2017), and four in Eilam and Reisfeld (2017).
“The table shows that in the study of Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005) two of the six perspectives were recognized, and respectively three, four and four of the perspectives in the studies of Verhoeff et al. (2008), Hmelo-Silver et al. (2017) and Eilam and Reisfeld (2017).”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
Except for Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), the four selected studies show remarkable similarity on three aspects: systems thinking is presented as understanding complex systems as a whole, as a set of higher order cognitive skills, and as learned by application of multiple representations or models.
“The previous section shows that, except for the study of Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005), there is remarkable similarity between the studies on three aspects: systems thinking is presented as understanding complex systems as a whole (1); it is regarded as a set of “higher order cognitive skills” (2), that are learned by the application of (multiple) representations or models (3).”
From The Theoretical Nature of Systems Thinking. Perspectives on Systems Thinking in Biology Education (2018) · cites this paper as Ben-Zvi Assaraf and Orion (2005)
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- Authors
- Assaraf, O. B., & Orion, N.
- Affiliations
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Orion, Nir
- Venue
- Journal of Research in Science Teaching
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2005-03-24
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 518-560
- ISSN
- 0022-4308 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-2736
- OpenAlex
- W2007339671
- Cited by
- 716
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 72 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 54 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 36.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Research in Science Teaching (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Geography Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Education › Education and Critical Thinking Development
- Keywords
- systems thinking, junior high school students, cognitive development, inquiry-based learning, knowledge integration, outdoor education, science curriculum
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