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Predicting and Measuring Systems Thinking about Climate Change among University Students

Shahin, Lisa
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1659705116064994

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Complex interactions among biophysical and social systems present challenges for environmental problem-solving. Addressing climate change is a prime example. Climate change can be described as a systems problem characterized by a highly interconnected system structure that produces undesirable outcomes. This complexity highlights the importance of employing systems thinking. Systems thinking departs from the traditional approach of breaking down a system into its separate components, and instead accounts for the complex and dynamic interactions between them, enabling the evaluation of outcomes of decisions and interventions at multiple scales. Accordingly, higher educational institutions are increasingly incorporating systems thinking in their curriculum and pedagogy to produce a qualified cadre of systems thinkers capable of addressing the complex problems they will encounter in their careers. More specifically, systems thinking has been identified as a fundamental element of environmental education as it trains students to integrate information across multiple scales, allowing them to develop effective solutions for today’s multidimensional environmental challenges. However, there are still significant knowledge gaps on how to promote and assess systems thinking in formal educational settings. This thesis contributes to the literature in several ways. In chapter two, I apply a systems approach to identify network-derived indicators of systems thinking by analyzing 35 cognitive maps of university students. The key contribution of this work is the development of a novel conceptual framework that integrates three fundamental dimensions of systems thinking – system components, system structure, and system function. Using hierarchical clustering, I identify and distinguish between simple versus complex systems thinking based on how cognitive maps with similar results cluster together. Subsequently in chapter three, I examine how different factors pertaining to a student’s academic background and training predicts them having more complex systems thinking. An understanding of the predictors of systems thinking can in turn guide the development of curricula, course material, and teaching strategies that foster systems thinking in a classroom. The study’s results reveal that most students are unable to produce a cognitive map that incorporates different aspects of climate change (dimension one) and fail to include substructures that indicate higher cognition of complex causality (dimension two). However, many students were able to connect the identified components in a logical manner suggesting understanding of system function (dimension three). Moreover, the results show that there is often a trade-off between the different systems thinking dimensions. Furthermore, the findings suggest that increased climate change knowledge positively predicted a student’s ability to identify the different components of climate change while it negatively predicted their ability to connect them in a logical manner. More surprisingly, as students advance in their studies, they are less capable of identifying system function. Taken together, these findings highlight the value of using the multidimensional framework for measuring systems thinking which can serve as an evaluation tool for educational programs to identify gaps in students’ systems thinking abilities and inform formal systems thinking teaching in higher education.
Matthew Hamilton (Advisor)
Eric Toman (Committee Member)
Robyn Wilson (Committee Member)
110 p.
Climate Change; Environmental Education; Systems Science
Systems Thinking, Cognitive Mapping, Climate Change, Higher Education

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Shahin, L. (2022). Predicting and Measuring Systems Thinking about Climate Change among University Students [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1659705116064994

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Shahin, Lisa. Predicting and Measuring Systems Thinking about Climate Change among University Students. 2022. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1659705116064994.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Shahin, Lisa. "Predicting and Measuring Systems Thinking about Climate Change among University Students." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1659705116064994

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1659705116064994
365
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.