“Everything’s Connected”: Using Systems Maps for Inquiry Learning

AbstractVisual representations of the complex interactions and interdependencies within systems facilitate holistic understanding and inform decision-making for systemic improvements. Notes1 Davis, B., Sumara, D., & Luce-Kapler, R. (2015). Engaging minds: Cultures of education and practices of teaching (3rd ed.). Routledge.2 Cabrera, D., & Cabrera, L. (2015). Systems thinking made simple: New hope for solving wicked problems (2nd ed.). Plectica Publishing.3 Senge, P. M., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J., & Kleiner, A. (2000). Schools that learn: A fifth discipline fieldbook for educators, parents, and everyone who cares about education. Knopf Doubleday.4 Alim, H. S., Paris, D., & Wong, C. P. (2020). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A critical framework for centering communities. In N. I. S. Nasir, C. D. Lee, R. Pea, & M. McKinney de Royston (Eds.), Handbook of the cultural foundations of learning (pp. 261-276). Taylor and Francis.5 NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. The National Academies Press.6 Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O., & Orion, N. (2005). Development of system thinking skills in the context of earth system education. Science Teaching, 42(5), 518-560; Ben-Zvi Assaraf, O., & Orion, N. (2010). Four case studies, six years later: Developing system thinking skills in junior high school and sustaining them over time. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(10), 1253-1280.7 Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Jordan, R., Eberbach, C., & Sinha, S. (2017). Systems learning with a conceptual representation: A quasi-experimental study. Instructional Science, 45(1), 53-72.8 Curwen, M. S., Ardell, A., & MacGillivray, L. (2019). Hopeful discourse: Elementary children’s activist responses to modern day slavery grounded in systems thinking. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 68(1), 139-161.9 Curwen, M. S., Ardell, A., MacGillivray, L., & Lambert, R. (2018). Systems thinking in a second grade classroom: Students engaged to address statewide drought. Frontiers in Education, 3, 90.10 Hmelo-Silver et al. (2017). p. 5311 Alim, H. S., Paris, D., & Wong, C. P. (2020). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A critical framework for centering communities. In N. I. S. Nasir, C.D. Lee, R. Pea, & M. McKinney de Royston (Eds.), Handbook of the cultural foundations of learning (pp. 261-276). Taylor and Francis. p. 263.12 Davis et al. (2015). p. 215.