The impact of explicit strategies for teaching systems thinking skills in order to access the crosscutting concepts

Abstract

The issue this project addressed was the implementation of the Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in a sixth grade science classroom. The hope was that by addressing the CCC of systems and systems models, students would have a more three-dimensional experience in the classroom, learning to build connections between different concepts and units and enhancing their ability to utilize the Science and Engineering Practices and attain mastery of the unit core ideas. The methodology involved explicit instruction of systems thinking strategies such as defining the components of a system and modeling the interactions between those components. Students with better content knowledge and spatial thinking skills were better at systems thinking both before and after the treatment unit. Treatment was effective for the majority of students to improve a variety of systems thinking skills. Students also gained confidence in their understanding of systems and ability to perform systems thinking skills. As such, this action research project showed that this approach to teaching systems thinking was effective.