Enhancing climate change understanding through system dynamics tools: An empirical study on middle school students

This study uses system dynamics tools to investigate middle school students’ systems thinking skills in climate change education. A one-group study was conducted with 120 eighth-grade students (62 females, 58 males aged 13–14) at a public school in Turkey during a four-week climate change unit. Students’ dynamic, stock-flow, and causal thinking skills were assessed using structured worksheets and evaluated with a four-level rubric. Results revealed varying proficiency levels across the three skills. Students demonstrated the highest level in stock-flow thinking, followed by dynamic thinking and causal thinking. The findings provide insight into how students interact with system dynamics tools in climate education and identify common student challenges in different thinking skills, offering empirically-based considerations for the design of middle school climate change curricula.