Abstract
This study aimed to enhance middle school students’ systems thinking about water systems through a design-based educational intervention grounded in socio-scientific issues. Thirty-two seventh-grade students participated in activities incorporating the iceberg model, relational thinking, and systems thinking maps. Data were collected via students’ systems thinking maps and open-ended questions and analyzed using a rubric developed for this study. Findings indicated notable progress across all eight dimensions of systems thinking, moving from simple associations to complex, dynamic, and cyclical understandings of water systems. The study demonstrates that a socio-hydrologic issue-based unit can foster students’ holistic and interconnected understanding of water, offering implications for curriculum design and sustainability education.
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