Implementation of the Open Educational Model to Develop Complex Thinking in University Students

Complex thinking is a fundamental competency for university students, in this changing and uncertain environment that requires students graduating from higher education to be able to face current and future challenges. In this research we report the results of the implementation of the Open Educational Model of Complex Thinking in university students in two moments: April and August 2024. Mixed Methods were used, since a Likert-type scale questionnaire called eComplexity was applied before and after the implementation of the model, in order to know the perception of the participants regarding their level of mastery of the complex thinking competency; interviews were also carried out in order to know their conception of complex thinking, as well as their perception regarding the usefulness, challenges and what they considered most attractive of the activity implemented as part of the model. The findings that could be identified are: a) There was no prior knowledge about complex thinking, b) Ability to define complex thinking after implementation, c) There was an improvement in the perception of the level of mastery of the complex thinking competency in the second implementation, d) Perception of the level of mastery of innovative thinking did improve after first and second implementation, e) Perception of the level of mastery of scientific thinking did improve after second implementation, and f) Students were able to design strategies to provide solutions to the chosen problems. The main limitation of the study is the number of sessions for the implementation of the model. For future lines, it is recommended to extend the period of implementation of the model and the size of the sample.