Abstract for: From Parts to Wholes: Transforming Engineering Education Through Tinkering-Based Systems Thinking

Engineering students must navigate increasingly complex systems, yet traditional instruction often develops technical skills without cultivating systems thinking. This study addresses the gap by examining how tinkering‑based robotics activities combined with structured systems thinking instruction influence engineering literacy and deep learning among undergraduates, responding to calls for pedagogies that better prepare students for dynamic, interconnected engineering challenges. A convergent mixed‑methods design was implemented with 97 engineering undergraduates completing a 5‑week module using LEGO® SPIKE Prime. Pre‑post assessments measured engineering and systems thinking self‑efficacy, while weekly reflections captured learning processes, emotional trajectories, and systems insights. The module integrated tinkering challenges, unexpected injections, and structured reflection to examine how experiential interaction with complex systems shapes learning. Students showed significant gains in engineering self‑efficacy (d = 0.37), especially in debugging and iterative design. Surprisingly, systems thinking self‑efficacy showed no quantitative change, despite rich qualitative evidence of systems awareness, structured inquiry, and transfer of systems concepts to teamwork. High engagement, enjoyment, and perceived systems insight further highlight the pedagogical value of tinkering‑based learning. Findings reveal a paradox: systems thinking developed deeply but tacitly, eluding traditional self‑efficacy measures. Tinkering enabled embodied interaction with dynamic systems, fostering insight, persistence, and collaborative sense‑making. This suggests that experiential systems learning emerges before students can explicitly self‑report it, underscoring the need for performance‑based assessments and richer pedagogical models in systems education. copilot extracted from what I have written