Complex Systems in Education: Scientific and Educational Importance and Implications for the Learning Sciences

The multidisciplinary study of complex systems in the physical and social sciences over the past quarter of a century has led to the articulation of important new conceptual perspectives and methodologies that are of value both to researchers in these fields as well as to professionals, policymakers, and citizens who must deal with challenging social and global problems in the 21st century. The main goals of this article are to (a) argue for the importance of learning these ideas at the precollege and college levels; (b) discuss the significant challenges inherent in learning complex systems knowledge from the standpoint of learning sciences theory and research; (c) discuss the “learnability issue ” of complex…

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  National Science Foundation