Fostering Students’ Understanding of Complex Biological Systems

Gilissen, Melde G. R.; Knippels, Marie‐Christine P. J.; Joolingen, Wouter van

doi:10.1187/cbe.20-05-0088

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Thus, the principles logically build on each other step by step. This relationship between the principles is a prerequisite for systems knowledge [ 70 ] and deep learning [ 53 ], and it helps prevent surface-learning of disconnected facts as in a learning progression [ 71 ]. Consequently, the expert view as presented in this study, seems to facilitate systems thinking, deep learning, and a possible learning progression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying knowledge important to teach about the nervous system in the context of secondary biology and science education–A Delphi study

Kvello

Gericke

2021

PLoS ONE

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Teaching about the nervous system has become a challenging task in secondary biology and science education because of the fast development in the field of neuroscience. A major challenge is to determine what content to teach. Curricula goals are often too general to guide instruction, and information about the nervous system has become overwhelming and diverse with ubiquitous relevance in society. In addition, several misconceptions and myths are circulating in educational communities causing world-wide confusion as to what content is correct. To help teachers, textbook authors, and curricula developers in this challenging landscape of knowledge, the aim of the present study is to identify the expert view on what knowledge is important for understanding the nervous system in the context of secondary biology and science education. To accomplish this, we have conducted a thematic content analysis of textbooks followed by a Delphi study of 15 experts in diverse but relevant fields. The results demonstrate six curriculum themes including gross anatomy and function, cell types and functional units, the nerve signal, connections between neurons, when nerve signals travel through networks of neurons, and plasticity in the nervous system, as well as 26 content principles organized in a coherent curriculum progression from general content to more specific content. Whereas some of the principles clarify and elaborate on traditional school biology knowledge, others add new knowledge to the curriculum. Importantly, the new framework for teaching about the nervous system presented here, meets the needs of society, as expressed by recent international policy frameworks of OECD and WHO, and it addresses common misconceptions about the brain. The study suggests an update of the biology and science curriculum.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying knowledge important to teach about the nervous system in the context of secondary biology and science education–A Delphi study

Kvello

Gericke

2021

PLoS ONE

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“…Several strategies for fostering systems thinking have emerged from the literature. Our study focused on the three most prominent, as identified by Gilissen et al (2021): (1) Modeling; (2) Cross-level reasoning; and (3) Use of systems language.…”

Section: Fostering Systems Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different insights can be gained from examining different levels which can lead to a better understanding of the emergent characteristics of the system as a whole (Weintrop et al, 2016). Challenging students to reason between various levels of organization has been shown to improve system thinking (Verhoeff et al, 2008;Gilissen et al, 2021).…”

Section: Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

System-thinking progress in engineering programs: A case for broadening the roles of students

2023

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IntroductionComplex systems are prevalent in many scientific and engineering disciplines, which makes system thinking important for students of these fields. Duchifat 3 is a unique engineering educational extracurricular program, where high school students designed, assembled, and tested a nano-satellite.MethodsThis study applied qualitative methods to explore how the participants’ systems-thinking developed during the program. Participants were interviewed using the repertory grid interview, and a semi structured interview at the beginning and at the end of the project, while various observations were conducted throughout.ResultsWhile the participants were initially assigned narrow roles, each dealing with a single sub-system of the satellite, some chose to be involved with other sub-systems and aspects of the project. Our findings show that the broader the participants’ involvement was, the greater the progress they experienced in their systems-thinking. Participants who stayed focused on a single subsystem did not show progress, while participants who involved themselves with several sub-systems exhibited a more meaningful progress.DiscussionAlthough the program design aimed to assign students to a narrow role to enable them to achieve the educational goals, from the perspective of systems-thinking this was counterproductive. These findings shed light on the design of engineering programs such as the one examined here in terms of systems-thinking development. We discuss the implications of the findings for similar programs and make suggestions for improvement.

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“…To address the complexity and relevance of course material in the context of biological sciences, a variety of educational approaches has been used, including addressing complexity and transforming it into a tool of discovery ( 7 ), providing simulation tools ( 8 , 9 ), and using structured peer interaction ( 10 ) and collaboration ( 11 ). Creating disease-focused project-based curricula ( 6 ) and laboratory projects ( 12 ) and actively encouraging attempts to integrate material into a larger picture as a natural part of learning ( 2 ) have also been reported as ways to address complexity and emphasize the relevance of scientific material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The challenges of implementing such approaches include the specifics of the student body (background and goals), scalability, tracking, and integration into the educational process. However, recent advances in educational tools ( 9 ) and better integration of online approaches ( 13 ) provide new opportunities for project-based approaches with improved scalability and tracking as well as organic integration of primary research literature and student-based discovery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storytelling as a Tool to Enhance Conceptual Knowledge in Cell Biology

Kiselyov

Schunn

2022

J Microbiol Biol Educ.

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Research in a range of disciplines shows that many undergraduate students struggle with aggregating complex knowledge components into a complete picture and incorporating research literature into the learning process. To build and improve on the practice of project-based approaches to teaching cell biology, we transformed an undergraduate cell biology class by introducing the concept of storylines that are selected by groups of students for development throughout the semester.

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Fostering Students’ Understanding of Complex Biological Systems

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate how students can be supported to visualize and reason about complex biological problems from a systems thinking perspective. Four design guidelines are presented to foster students’ systems thinking in biology education.

Cited by 11 publications

References 37 publications

Identifying knowledge important to teach about the nervous system in the context of secondary biology and science education–A Delphi study

Identifying knowledge important to teach about the nervous system in the context of secondary biology and science education–A Delphi study

System-thinking progress in engineering programs: A case for broadening the roles of students

Storytelling as a Tool to Enhance Conceptual Knowledge in Cell Biology

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