High school students' understanding of the human body system

In this study, one hundred and eighty students from 8 tenth-grade (age 16-17) classes in three high schools from southern Israel were examined to determine the extent of their ability to perceive the human body as a system after completing the first stage in their biology curriculum - 'The human body, emphasising homeostasis'. The mixed-gender (55% female) sample is homogenous in that all of the subjects are studying for a matriculation diploma, but heterogeneous in that their social-economic background varies from medium to high. The students' systems thinking was analysed according to the STH thinking model, which roughly divides it into three main levels that are arranged 'pyramid' style, in an ascending order of difficulty: 1. Analysis of system components - the ability to identify the components and processes existing in the human body system; 2. Synthesis of system components - ability to identify dynamic relations within the system; 3. Implementation - ability to generalise and identify patterns in the system, and to identify its hidden dimensions. The students in this study proved largely incapable of achieving systems thinking beyond the primary STH level of identifying components. An overwhelming majority if their responses corresponded to this level of the STH model, further indicating a pronounced favouring of structure over process, and of larger, macro elements over microscopic ones. [Author abstract, ed]