A multilevel modelling approach to investigating factorsassociated with middle school students'systems thinking inbiology education

Oct 19, 2026

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Science education increasingly highlights the value of systems thinking (ST), especially within biology instruction, yet prior research has not fully clarified which factors shape students’ ST in this context. Using multilevel modelling, t-test, and linear regression, the study examines individual, class, and school influences on biological systems thinking (BST) for 1,408 Grade 7 and 8 students across seven Chinese schools. Results show significant links between higher BST and family SES, positive biology attitudes, and greater biological content knowledge at the individual level. At the class level, teachers’ experience and classroom ST focus are associated with higher BST, while urban schools and school-level SES also predict stronger performance. Findings inform targeted improvements in attitudes and biological content knowledge to strengthen BST.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

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ABSTRACT

Introduction

Theoretical and empirical frameworks

ST in biology education

# A multilevel modelling approach to investigating factorsassociated with middle school students'systems thinking inbiology education Ruying Li四and Gaofeng Lib School of Education Science,Huaiyin Normal University,Huai'an,People's Republic of China;College ofLife Science,Shaanxi Normal University,Xian,People's Republic of China ## ABSTRACT Science education has increasingly emphasised the importance ofteaching systems thinking(ST),particularly in biology education.However,existing studies have yet to provide a comprehensiveunderstanding of the factors influencing students’ST in abiological education context.We explore the factors related tostudents'biological ST(BST)from individual,class,and schoolperspectives through multilevel modelling analysis,t-test,andlinear regression analysis.A total of 1,4087th-and 8th-gradestudents from seven schools in China participated in the study.Atthe individual level,students'family socioeconomic status(SES),attitude towards biology,and biological content knowledge(BCK)were significantly associated with BST.Students with higher SESa positive attitude towards biology,and greater BCK were morelikely to achieve higher levels of BST.At the class level,a novelfinding is that teachers with more teaching experience and afocus on ST in their practice had students who performed betterin BST.Furthermore,urban school students performed betterthan their rural county counterparts,and school SES waspositively related to students'BST.Our findings may informeducators and researchers about factors that could enhancestudents'BST;for instance,efforts should be made to improvestudents'attitudes towards biology and BCK. ## Introduction Over the past two decades,nations,policymakers,researchers,and individuals have facedincreasingly complex and interdisciplinary challenges.Systems thinking(ST),a metacog-nitive skill that involves approaching and solving complex problems holistically(Verhoeff et al.,2018),has been identified as crucial for addressing such challenges,par-ticularly in social and environmental contexts(Mambrey et al.,2020).Consequently,researchers across various fields have advocated for the promotion of ST in science edu-cation(Gilissen,Knippels,and van Joolingen,2020;Schuler et al,2018;Sommer &Lücken,2010;Verhoeff et al.,2018). Chock for updates ARTICLE HISTORY Received 27 January 2025Accepted 17 September2025 KEYWORDS Biology education;systemsthinking;middle schoolstudents 2 R.LI AND G.LI The 'system'concept is fundamental to biological literacy,as biology is inherently con-cerned with studying living systems at various scales(Momsen et al.,2022).To betterunderstand and predict biological phenomena,integration across different systems andscales is necessary for both learning and research(Gilissen,Knippels,Verhoeff,et al.,2020).As such,biology education has emphasised the importance of ST,as it fosters acoherent understanding of the subject(Gilissen,Knippels,&van Joolingen,2020;Verhoeff et al.,2018). To enhance the effectiveness of ST instruction and encourage students to think sys-tematically,identifying the factors that influence students'ST performance is crucial.Recent empirical studies on ST assessment have revealed significant differences in STabilities across student groups(Li&Li,2023;Jin et al.,2019).However,research focusingspecifically on middle school students and the factors influencing their ST is scarce;fur-thermore,no large-scale studies have been conducted on this subject.Moreover,manyhypotheses regarding predictive associations lack empirical validation,and teacher-related factors have often been overlooked.Finally,studies have suggested that factorsinfluencing ST may yield different results depending on the domain-specific context(Cox et al.,2019;Jin et al.,2019;Sweeney &Sterman,2000). Thus,we comprehensively examine the factors associated with middle school stu-dents'biological ST(BST).This study not only provides valuable insights for improvingteachers'i

FAQs

What class- and school-level factors relate to students’ BST performance?

Class results indicate that teachers with more teaching experience and a practical focus on ST are associated with better BST. School results show urban students perform better than rural county counterparts, and school SES is positively related to BST.

Oct 19, 2026

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