System Thinking Among Students in Sustainability Programs: A Pilot-Study
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2025-08-26
Author(s)
Abstract
In this collaborative Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study (Huber, 2014), a lecturer and two academic developers investigated systems thinking (ST) among students in two sustainability programmes at a Norwegian University. ST is considered a crucial sustainability competency (Brundiers et al., 2021; UNESCO, 2017), yet it remains unclear what level of competency students have and how to assess them adequately. Assessing this is however essential, given the impact of prior knowledge on learning outcomes (see Hailikari et al., 2008). We selected two surveys to measure ST skills: Davis & Stroink (2015, 15 items) focusing on cognitive aspects, and Camelia, Ferris & Cropley (2018, 30 items) focusing on affective aspects. Both scales showed satisfactory reliability (Davis & Stroink: α = .73; Camelia et al.: α = .83) with significant intercorrelation (r = .49, p < .001). Neither gender nor age correlated significantly with ST. We discuss implications for teaching practices and plan further assessments to track students’ ST development over time.
Language
English (United States)
Keywords
systems thinking
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Sustainability
Education
Literature Review
Survey
competence
Educational Research
Academic Development
Assessement
Teaching
Learning
Instruction
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Event Title
EARLI 2025 Conference "Realising Potentials through Education: Shaping the Minds and Brains for the Future"
Event Location
University of Graz, Austria
Division(s)
Contact Email Address
stefan.siegel@unisg.ch
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
2025-08 SoTL Systems Thinking Talk EARLI 2025 Siegel, Kordts, Kopainsky.pdf
Size
1.91 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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