One of the keys to science and environmental literacy is systems thinking. Learning how to think about the interactions between systems, the far-reaching effects of a system, and the dynamic nature of systems are all critical outcomes of science learning. However, students need support to develop systems thinking skills in undergraduate geoscience classrooms. While systems thinking-focused instruction has the potential to benefit student learning, gaps exist in our understanding of students’ use of systems thinking to operationalize and model SHS, as well as their metacognitive evaluation of systems thinking. To address this need, we have designed, implemented, refined, and studied an introductory-level, interdisciplinary course focused on coupled human-water, or sociohydrologic, systems. Data for this study comes from three consecutive iterations of the course and involves student models and explanations for a socio-hydrologic issue (n = 163). To analyze this data, we counted themed features of the drawn models and applied an operationalization rubric to the written responses. Analyses of the written explanations reveal statistically-significant differences between underlying categories of systems thinking (F(5, 768) = 401.6, p < 0.05). Students were best able to operationalize their systems thinking about problem identification (M = 2.22, SD = 0.73) as compared to unintended consequences (M = 1.43, SD = 1.11). Student-generated systems thinking models revealed statistically significant differences between system components, patterns, and mechanisms, F(2, 132) = 3.06, p < 0.05. Students focused most strongly on system components (M = 13.54, SD = 7.15) as compared to related processes or mechanisms. Qualitative data demonstrated three types of model limitation including scope/scale, temporal, and specific components/mechanisms/patterns excluded. These findings have implications for supporting systems thinking in undergraduate geoscience classrooms, as well as insight into links between these two skills.

中文翻译：

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社会水文系统思维：本科生人水耦合系统操作化与建模分析

科学和环境素养的关键之一是系统思考。学习如何思考系统之间的相互作用、系统的深远影响以及系统的动态特性都是科学学习的关键成果。然而，学生需要支持来培养本科地球科学课堂的系统思维技能。虽然以系统思维为中心的教学有可能使学生的学习受益，但我们对学生使用系统思维来操作和模拟 SHS 以及他们对系统思维的元认知评估的理解存在差距。为了满足这一需求，我们设计、实施、改进和研究了一门介绍性的跨学科课程，重点关注耦合的人类-水或社会水文系统。这项研究的数据来自课程的三个连续迭代，涉及学生模型和社会水文问题的解释（n = 163）。为了分析这些数据，我们计算了绘制模型的主题特征，并将操作性评分应用于书面回复。对书面解释的分析揭示了系统思维潜在类别之间的统计学显着差异（F(5, 768) = 401.6, p < 0.05）。与意外后果（M = 1.43，SD = 1.11）相比，学生最能够操作他们的系统思考问题识别（M = 2.22，SD = 0.73）。学生生成的系统思维模型揭示了系统组件、模式和机制之间的统计学显着差异，F(2, 132) = 3.06, p < 0.05。与相关过​​程或机制相比，学生最关注系统组件（M = 13.54，SD = 7.15）。定性数据显示了三种类型的模型限制，包括范围/规模、时间和排除的特定组件/机制/模式。这些发现对支持本科地球科学课堂的系统思考以及深入了解这两种技能之间的联系具有重要意义。