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Towards a framework for assessing systems thinking in collaborative problem-solving in STEM

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Conference

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Publication Date

June 22, 2025

Start Date

June 22, 2025

End Date

August 15, 2025

Conference Session

ERM Technical Session: Improving Assessment in Engineering Education

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--57702

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/57702

Download Count

6

Paper Authors

biography

Lykke Brogaard Bertel Aalborg University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-1460-2905

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Lykke Brogaard Bertel is Associate Professor in PBL and digital transformation at the UNESCO center for Problem-based Learning in Engineering, Science and Sustainability at Aalborg University.

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biography

Rea Lavi Massachusetts Institute of Technology Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0788-7236

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Rea Lavi received his Ph.D. degree from the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. He is Lecturer and a Curriculum Designer with the NEET program, School of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, where he teaches thinking skills to undergraduate students. His research interests in STEM education involve the fostering and assessment of thinking skills involved in complex problem-solving, with special focus on systems thinking, creative thinking, and metacognition. His doctoral research received several awards, including the Zeff Fellowship for Excelling First-year Ph.D. Students and the Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Fellowship for Excelling Ph.D. Students. Rea is also the inventor of the SNAP Method® for structured creative problem-solving (US & UK trademarks).

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Kamilla Rathcke Aalborg University

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Nelson F. Coelho Aalborg University

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Sun Cole Seeberg Dyremose Aalborg University

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Abstract

In this evidence-based practice research brief, we expand on previous work related to the development of a framework for teaching and assessing introductory systems thinking in first-year STEM education. We employ the framework to create and refine a rubric useful for teaching and assessing systems thinking, and present initial results from applying the rubric to a case of structured case work involving collaborative problem-solving in STEM. We discuss the implications of this approach to teaching and assessing systems thinking in collaborative settings and discuss the potential of applying the framework as a research tool to compare different variations of interdisciplinarity and complexity in collaborative problem-solving in STEM.

Bertel, L. B., & Lavi, R., & Rathcke, K., & Coelho, N. F., & Dyremose, S. C. S. (2025, June), Towards a framework for assessing systems thinking in collaborative problem-solving in STEM Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . 10.18260/1-2--57702

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