A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography

In high school geography students are taught about complex geospatial relations that often focus on the interaction between humans and their environment. Systems thinking as an approach concentrates in general on understanding interconnections between variables in a system to see the bigger picture...

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Main Authors: Marjolein COX, Jan ELEN, An STEEGEN
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association of Geographers 2022-01-01
Series:European Journal of Geography
Online Access:https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/102
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author Marjolein COX
Jan ELEN
An STEEGEN
author_facet Marjolein COX
Jan ELEN
An STEEGEN
author_sort Marjolein COX
collection DOAJ
description In high school geography students are taught about complex geospatial relations that often focus on the interaction between humans and their environment. Systems thinking as an approach concentrates in general on understanding interconnections between variables in a system to see the bigger picture. Therefore systems thinking is an appropriate approach in  geography education. Recently it is also seen as an important cognitive skill in some European countries. However, an appropriate tool to assess systems thinking in geography is currently missing. In this article, a test and its development are described. The test was administered with 617 students of 16 to 18 years old in secondary education in Flanders. Based on the validation process, the reliability measures and the distribution of the students’ scores, it is concluded that the proposed test is a valid and reliable assessment instrument for future research.
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issn 1792-1341
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language English
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher European Association of Geographers
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series European Journal of Geography
spelling doaj-art-a72f04b2ad8e474484f5c3dfceb621b52025-08-20T02:39:51ZengEuropean Association of GeographersEuropean Journal of Geography1792-13412410-74332022-01-0191A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geographyMarjolein COX Jan ELEN An STEEGEN In high school geography students are taught about complex geospatial relations that often focus on the interaction between humans and their environment. Systems thinking as an approach concentrates in general on understanding interconnections between variables in a system to see the bigger picture. Therefore systems thinking is an appropriate approach in  geography education. Recently it is also seen as an important cognitive skill in some European countries. However, an appropriate tool to assess systems thinking in geography is currently missing. In this article, a test and its development are described. The test was administered with 617 students of 16 to 18 years old in secondary education in Flanders. Based on the validation process, the reliability measures and the distribution of the students’ scores, it is concluded that the proposed test is a valid and reliable assessment instrument for future research. https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/102
spellingShingle Marjolein COX
Jan ELEN
An STEEGEN
A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography
European Journal of Geography
title A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography
title_full A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography
title_fullStr A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography
title_full_unstemmed A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography
title_short A test to measure students' systems thinking abilities in geography
title_sort test to measure students systems thinking abilities in geography
url https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/102
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