Fostering Students' Understanding of Complex Biological Systems

Area of Science:

• Biology Education
• Systems Thinking in Science

Background:

• Complex biological problems often challenge students' understanding.
• Traditional teaching methods may not adequately foster systems-level comprehension.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of teaching systems thinking for understanding complex biological problems.
• To develop and test lesson plans for secondary students using a systems perspective.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a lesson study approach in two secondary classes (15-16 year olds).
• Observed students visualizing and reasoning about complex biological problems.
• Analyzed student worksheets, peer discussions, classroom observations, and interviews.

Main Results:

• Students successfully visualized complex biological problems using a systems model incorporating eight characteristics.
• Explicit scaffolds facilitated reasoning across different levels of biological organization.
• Four design guidelines for implementing systems thinking in biology were formulated.

Conclusions:

• Systems thinking, when taught explicitly using models and scaffolds, enhances students' ability to understand complex biological systems.
• The developed approach and guidelines are valuable for biology education and potentially other scientific domains.