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Education In The Age Of Complexity: Building Systems Literacy, Caitlin S. Steele

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In the 21st century, transdisciplinary approaches to research and problem solving rooted in complexity theory and complex systems methodologies offer hope for understanding and solving previously intractable problems. However, in the face of daunting modern challenges like a broken health care system, growing social and economic inequity, and climate change, the knowledge and skills required to understand and ultimately solve problems across interdependent complex systems are distinctly lacking in our collective practice.

The underlying premise of this study is that if modern society is to deal effectively with interconnected challenges across ecological, social, political, and economic systems, our education system …