Inhaltszusammenfassung

Many global challenges require us to deal with uncertainties. For example, soil loss due to erosion illustrates complex and dynamic human-environmental interactions with an urgent need for protective measures. System competence helps to identify and model system characteristics and to derive adequate intervention strategies. Therefore, it is crucial to provide and evaluate methods to promote systems thinking in young people. The aim of the here presented pre-post study is to empirically compa...Many global challenges require us to deal with uncertainties. For example, soil loss due to erosion illustrates complex and dynamic human-environmental interactions with an urgent need for protective measures. System competence helps to identify and model system characteristics and to derive adequate intervention strategies. Therefore, it is crucial to provide and evaluate methods to promote systems thinking in young people. The aim of the here presented pre-post study is to empirically compare the system competence development of 15- to 18-year-old students using (#1) analogue or (#2) digital soil erosion models or (#3) a combination of both approaches within equal-length treatments. Based on the four-dimensional “Freiburg heuristic competence model of systems thinking” (Rieß et al., Geographie aktuell und Schule 37(215):16–29, 2015), test items are developed, validated, and applied. Analyses of variance show significant group differences (n = 203): the post-test mean value of system competence in group #3 using combined analogue and digital models is significantly higher compared to group #2 using digital-only models (p = 0.024, with a small effect size Cohens f of 0.1). Furthermore, considerable differences become apparent between the four system competence dimensions. To effectively promote systems thinking in the context of soil erosion, the combined use of analogue and digital models is recommended for teaching practice. In addition, factor analyses of the study data set provide empirical evidence for the heuristically derived four-dimensional structure of system competence (Rieß et al., Geographie aktuell und Schule 37(215):16–29, 2015).» weiterlesen» einklappen

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Klassifikation

DFG Fachgebiet:
Geographie

DDC Sachgruppe:
Erziehung, Schul- und Bildungswesen