Interrelations between systems thinking and abstract thinking: the case of high-school electronics students.

Systems thinking and abstract thinking are important skills for engineers in general and hardware and software engineers in particular. Systems thinking emphasises the interdependence of system components and their synergy. Abstract thinking permits one to focus on the significant details of the current perspective, while temporarily neglecting the less relevant details of the stage in question. So far, systems thinking and abstract thinking have each been characterised separately, but a possible relation between them has not yet been examined. The study described in the paper explored the interrelations between systems thinking and abstract thinking among high-school students executing their final project. In the study, which used quantitative and qualitative tools, participated 239 Israeli twelve graders majoring in electronics. The findings indicate a significant moderate positive correlation between systems thinking and abstract thinking. The systems thinker and the abstract thinker share common cognitive characteristics, but differ in features related to knowledge and background, and interpersonal skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]