Marja-Ilona Koski
Science Education and Communication (SEC), Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands
Marc de Vries
Science Education and Communication (SEC), Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands
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Published in: PATT 26 Conference; Technology Education in the 21st Century; Stockholm; Sweden; 26-30 June; 2012
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 73:30, p. 253-261
Published: 2012-06-18
ISBN: 978-91-7519-849-1
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
This paper presents a study into systems thinking among 27 primary school pupils; 8-to10-yearolds; and their teacher. The study includes; pre-test to the teacher and a group of pupils; lesson planning; the actual lesson and post-test to the pupils. The focus is on three concepts: do the pupils see a system as a structure consisting from main- and subparts; what are the inputs and output that they reason to be important for a system; and can they put boundaries to a system. Analysis revealed that the pupils showed some indications of machines consisting from parts with different functions; or that a sequence of steps is needed to complete a process. Systems; however; are mainly described in terms of what the user can experience; instead of what the machine itself does. The concept of input was more obvious to the pupils than the output. The impression of what a systems does; and what a user does; seemed to overlap; and this made setting the boundaries to a system more demanding. Nevertheless; by including basic principles of systems thinking; the teacher was able to introduce alternatives to approach the problems. Even though; the systems thinking was rather limited in larger sense; the pupils were able to reach beyond fair descriptions; and they used new practices to explain and label artefacts.
Primary pupils; systems thinking; qualitative study; main- and subparts; input and output; system boundaries
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