Comparing first-and third-person perspectives in early elementary learning of honeybee systems

While prior literature has demonstrated that even young children can learn about complex systems using participatory simulations, this study disentangles the impacts of third-person perspectives (offered by traditional simulations) and first-person perspectives (offered by participatory simulations) on children’s development of systems thinking and biology learning. Through the lens of honeybee nectar collection, we worked with three first-grade classrooms assigned to one of three conditions--instruction through use of a first-person perspective only, third-person perspective only, and integrated instruction--to engage ideas of complex systems thinking. In each condition, systems concepts were targeted through instruction and assessment. The combined and third-person classrooms demonstrated significant gains while the first-person classroom showed gains that were not statistically significant, suggesting that third-person perspectives play a critical role in how children learn systems thinking. This work also puts forth a novel assessment design for young children using multiple-choice questions.