Investigating undergraduate students’ engagement in systems thinking and modeling using causal maps

Introduction To develop a foundation of scientific understanding, undergraduate biology students need to integrate ideas about individual concepts into thinking complex biological systems. Methods investigate the extent which engage in systems thinking, we conducted pre-post study with required botany course at small liberal arts college Midwest. All completed causal map beginning and end course. Casual maps are similar concept but demonstrate cause effect relationships rather than other connections included map. Results Analysis showed that majority did see some within system not reach high level thinking. Discussion This work highlights difficulties have engaging provides important insight particular areas do more can specifically target instruction intervention.