Background Scientific software incorporates models that capture fundamental domain knowledge. This software is becoming increasingly more relevant as an instrument for food research. However, scientific software is currently hardly shared among and (re-)used by stakeholders in the food domain, which …

UNLABELLED: Public library makerspaces intend to contribute to the development of children from marginalized communities through the education of digital technology and creativity and by stimulating young people to experience new social roles and develop their identity. Learning in these informal settings …

We investigate a computer supported approach in which pairs co-con-struct a qualitative representation of the dynamics of the industrial revolution in a shared workspace. A key feature of this approach concerns the use of a meta-vocabulary for representing cause-and-effect relationships that facilitates …

Metacognition comprises both the ability to be aware of one’s cognitive processes (metacognitive knowledge) and to regulate them (metacognitive control). Research in educational sciences has amassed a large body of evidence on the importance of metacognition in learning and academic achievement. More …

Getting students to reflect critically is considered hard to achieve. This should be addressed because critical reflection is crucial for students to prepare for their professional lives in a complex world. We examined the research method Photovoice to raise critical reflection in students. Traditionally, …

This contribution presents three lesson activities for lower secondary education that were developed to teach system thinking in concert with subject matter. The pedagogical approach is described, leading to a practical design philosophy for lesson activities using qualitative representations. These …

In this paper, we discuss the pedagogical approach of two lessons that are aimed at learning domain knowledge and systems thinking simultaneously using qualitative representations. Next to understanding basic cause-effect relationships, these lessons focus on the notion that systems can move through …

Systems thinking is a complex skill for learners in secondary education. We argue that qualitative representations can be valuable tools to actively engage in learning this skill. However, the effectiveness of these tools is currently hampered by complexity and the lack of instructional embedding. In …