Problem Solving About Complex Systems: Differences Between Experts and Novices

This paper reports on a study of problem solving differences between scientific experts in the field of complex systems and novice undergraduate students. Significant differences were found both at the conceptual level and at the level of basic epistemological and ontological presuppositions and beliefs. It is suggested that helping students understand and use complex systems knowledge will require helping students construct a richer conceptual ecology which embraces both non-reductive and decentralized thinking, multiple causality, non-linearity, randomness, and so on. It is hoped that this research might contribute to efforts that are exploring ways for students to acquire a powerful conceptual toolkit based on emerging scientific and social science research into the dynamics of complex systems.