How can we prepare students to tackle complex global food challenges? A 2023 study published in Foods provides a fascinating answer: using creative, hypothetical case scenarios to teach systems thinking. These innovative exercises are helping undergraduates grasp the big-picture thinking needed to address pressing issues in food systems, sustainability, and agriculture.
What Was the Study About?
Researchers created structured, hypothetical case scenarios based on real-world instances within food systems. Students were tasked with analyzing these scenarios, identifying key challenges, and proposing solutions while considering the interconnected effects of their decisions. This method encouraged them to explore upstream and downstream impacts—critical elements of systems thinking.
Key Findings
The results were encouraging:
Students developed a stronger ability to identify interconnections between parts of a system, such as how a decision about food production might affect supply chains or environmental health.
The use of hypothetical cases allowed for a risk-free learning environment, where students could experiment with solutions to highly complex problems before entering a workforce that will ask them to do so in higher-stakes situations.
This approach proved effective for teaching systemic reasoning, especially in disciplines like food and agricultural science, where real-world applications are critical.
Why This Matters
Teaching systems thinking is no small feat, but it’s essential for preparing agricultural and environmental science students to address real-world challenges like climate change, food security, and sustainable resource management. This study shows that well-designed hypothetical cases can break down barriers to understanding, providing students with tools to think critically and innovatively.
Interested in learning more? Dive into the full study here.
What’s Next?
The authors suggest expanding this approach to other disciplines and refining the method through additional research. The STEPS project is focused on doing just that!
The STEPS project team is creating reusable learning objects (RLOs) with additional hypothetical case scenarios that span across multiple agricultural disciplines, all considering the implications of climate change in food systems.
These RLOs will be available to teachers who want to help their students improve their systems thinking capacities as they navigate entering the workforce of a world with an increasingly complex food system.
By reimagining how we teach systems thinking, we can empower the next generation to solve tomorrow’s food system challenges today.
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