Dr. Katharina Düsing
Biology Education
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+49-(0)431-880-3137
SymBioSE
Exploring systems thinking in biology across locations
The SymBioSE project investigates biology teachers’ perspectives on the use of basic concepts to promote students’ systems thinking skills. It also addresses the structural promotion of the research network in the field of systems thinking.
Project data
| Research lines | Research Line Domain-Specific Learning in Preschools and Schools | ||
| Departments | Biology Education | ||
| Funding | Fachsektion Didaktik der Biologie (FDdB) im VBIO | ||
| Period | 8/1/2024–7/31/2025 | ||
| Status | current | ||
| IPN researchers | Dr. Katharina Düsing (Project lead) | ||
| Members of the research alliance | IPN Leibniz-Institut für die Pädagogik der Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik (Lead), Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau, Universität Leipzig | ||
Systems thinking is crucial for explaining biological phenomena and, by taking complexity and multiple perspectives into account, provides an important basis for participation in societal decision-making processes in the context of sustainable development. For these reasons, promoting students’ systems thinking skills is a relevant goal of biology education.
In Germany, the promotion of systems thinking in biology classes is anchored in the curriculum through the reference to basic concepts. Biology education that is oriented towards basic concepts can significantly contribute to conceptual learning. However, there is a need for an empirical investigation of biology teachers’ perspectives on the use of basic concepts to promote students’ systems thinking skills. The SymBioSE project addresses this need and thus takes a first step towards the development of empirically based professional development opportunities in the context of systems thinking.
A second goal of the SymBioSE project is the structural promotion of the research network in the field of systems thinking.
The SymBioSE project is funded by the fund for innovative cross-locational projects of the “Fachsektion Didaktik der Biologie (FDdB) im VBIO”. The project partners are Dr. Katharina Düsing at the IPN Kiel (project coordination), Dr. Alexander Bergmann-Gehring at the University of Leipzig (project coordination), and Maike Sauer at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU).
