Measurement and Development of Systems Thinking–Empirical Findings Regarding the Structure of System Competence and Its Promotion by Means of Analogue and Digital Models

Abstract

The challenges within the context of global climate change reveal the relevance of a competent evaluation of complex human-environmental relations (system competency). By means of pre-post design the here presented empirical comparison study examines the changes of the contextual systems thinking of students (upper secondary level) using (1) an analogue soil erosion model, (2) a digital soil erosion model (simulation), respectively (3) a combination of both approaches with equal duration of each intervention. Based on the “Freiburg heuristic competence model of systems thinking” by Rieß, Schuler & Hörsch (2015), test items were developed referring to the subject soil erosion and the system competence test was validated. In addition, confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) confirmed a good model fit of the above-named four-dimensional competence model. The sample of the main study (n = 203) underwent analyses of variance (ANOVA). The mean value of system competence in the group that has experienced a combined analogue and digital intervention, was significantly higher compared to the group with mere computer simulation.