Dedicated Assignments as a Means of Advancing Junior Students’ Systems Thinking and Abstract Thinking

Aharon Gero, Aziz Shekh-Abed, Orit Hazzan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

To design and maintain complex engineering systems, engineers need to adopt the characteristics of the so-called systems thinker and abstract thinker. The study described here aimed to investigate whether systems thinking and abstract thinking could be advanced simultaneously, through dedicated assignments, at a relatively early stage. Twenty-six high-school electronics students (Grade 11), who were executing their final project, took part in the study. Fourteen tasks focusing on systems thinking and abstract thinking were integrated into the curriculum. At the beginning and end of the school year, students took an achievement test, designed to assess their systems and abstract thinking. The test findings pointed to a significant improvement in both systems thinking and abstract thinking.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMobility for Smart Cities and Regional Development - Challenges for Higher Education - Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2021
EditorsMichael E. Auer, Hanno Hortsch, Oliver Michler, Thomas Köhler
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages210-216
Number of pages7
ISBN (Print)9783030939069
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event24th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2021 - Dresden, Germany
Duration: 22 Sep 202124 Sep 2021

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Networks and Systems

Conference

Conference24th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning, ICL 2021
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityDresden
Period22/09/2124/09/21

Keywords

  • Abstract thinking
  • High-school electronics students
  • Systems thinking

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Signal Processing
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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