Preservice science teachers’ systems thinking skills, conceptual understanding, and system-level misconceptions: the water cycle system*

This study explored the systems thinking skills (STS) and conceptual understanding of preservice science teachers (PSTs) related to the water cycle system. Research was designed as descriptive and correlational study with the use of two instruments -the Water Cycle Concept Map (WCCM) and the Water Cycle Diagnostic Test (WCDT). Data were collected from 254 PSTs from three universities. Concept map analysis revealed that most of the PSTs tended to rely on domino causality and encountered challenges in recognizing multiple causal patterns by using mutual and relational causalities. Cyclic causality was the second most commonly used pattern. WCDT scores showed that PSTs had both scientifically accepted conceptual understanding (seeing the oceans being the biggest moisture source, sun as the driving forces of the water cycle and human impact on the water cycle system) and system-level misconceptions (observed when they could not link physics, chemistry, biology and earth science knowledge correctly to explain the changes of water states in different processes (evaporation, condensation, cloud formation, and deposition). The relationships between STS and WCDT scores were found to be positive and of small to moderate strength, and pointed out that PSTs identified certain system relationships but their STS remained limited in terms of structural and procedural dimensions. This study suggested that teacher education programs should help PSTs to move beyond simply recognizing the components of the water cycle system and develop a deeper and more sophisticated understanding of the water cycle system.