Systems Thinking during a Student Ideathon Competition: Individual and Group Factors
ABOUT THE STUDY. This study explores how systems thinking, the ability to understand how different parts of a complex problem interact, affects team performance.
You will be asked to complete two surveys and your team’s submission, a poster (slide), project title and narrative will also be used in the study.
- Individual systems thinking: a 5-question survey to be completed over 30 minutes.
- People’s Choice Award: a short, 3-question scale survey in which participants evaluate each team’s proposal and presentation during the Ideathon.
Following the event, students may choose to voluntarily participate in an additional reflective, semi-structured interview online interview conducted by Zoom and audio-recorded for research purposes. The interview will last about 30 minutes.
By analyzing student proposals for the flagpole redesign and survey responded, the study asks: do teams with better systems thinkers produce better results?
WHO IS CONDUCTING THE STUDY? This study is being conducted by the Rethinking the Right-of-Way (ReROW) research cluster.
Principal Investigators: Dr. Theo Lim, Associate Professor at the School of Community and Regional Planning.
Co-principal investigators:
- Dr. Kelly Clifton, Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning;
- Dr. Amanda Giang, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability;
and - Dr. Esther Zipori, postdoctoral researcher at the School of Community and Regional Planning.
The research assistant on this study is Shirely (Yuhui) Yao, Master of Science student at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability. Any questions or concerns can be directed to info.rerow@ubc.ca
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS STUDY? The purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of how students’ individual systems-thinking approaches influence interdisciplinary group work and the development of responses to complex, real-world challenges. By examining how teams engage with a complex planning scenario, the study aims to identify factors that support effective collaboration and integrative problem-solving.
Deidentified data from this study may be published in academic research journals and presented at scholarly conferences. Aggregate data and/or deidentified quotations may also be shared publicly.
ARE THERE ANY RISKS IN TAKING PART IN THIS STUDY? The research is assessed as minimal risk because the Ideathon activities and surveys require undergraduate participants to engage in reasoning and reflection tasks comparable to those encountered in regular academic coursework, group projects, or experiential learning activities.
The event will be facilitated by the non-teaching members of the research team, Dr. Esther Zipori and Shirley Yao. Whether or not students choose to participate in the research, as well as in the IDEAthon event, will have no effect on current or future academic standing.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO YOU PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY? There may be no direct or immediate personal benefits from participating in this study. However, the findings may contribute to improving the design of interdisciplinary learning experiences at UBC and beyond, which may benefit students in the future by better supporting teamwork, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills. In addition, completing the survey may provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your own systems-thinking approaches and how you engage in interdisciplinary group work, which some participants may find to be a valuable learning experience.
COMPENSATION: Participants who choose to voluntarily take part in the post-Ideathon interview conducted by Zoom will receive a $10 gift card to blue chip on UBC campus as compensation for their additional time.
CONFIDENTIALITY. Data will be deidentified by Dr. Esther Zipori, a postdoctoral researcher at the school of Community and Regional planning, and the research assistant on this study, Shirely (Yuhui) Yao, a graduate student at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability.
The PI (Dr. Theo Lim) and other CO-PIs (Dr. Kelly Clifton and Dr. Amanda Giang) will only have access to de-identified data. Data will be securely stored on encrypted computers and shared between the researchers using a FIPPA and PIPEDA-compliant (federal government-mandated) tool. Instead of using names, codes will be used to protect the identity of the participants. All research outputs—including reports, presentations, and publications—will use deidentified data, and no identifying information will appear in disseminated materials. The Principal Investigators will only have access to the deidentified data. The information gathered from the surveys will be stored for 5 years at UBC on a secure and encrypted data storage system.
Data will be securely stored on encrypted computers and shared between the researchers using a FIPPA and PIPEDA compliant (federal government mandated) tool. Instead of using names, codes will be used to protect the identity of the participants. All research outputs—including reports, presentations, and publications—will use deidentified data, and no identifying information will appear in disseminated materials. The Principal Investigators will only have access to the deidentified data. The information gathered from the surveys will be stored for 5 years at UBC on a secure and encrypted data storage system.
All electronic data collected for this study will be stored on secure, UBC-licensed platforms, including UBC Qualtrics for survey data and UBC OneDrive for interview recordings, transcripts, team submissions, and judge assessments. These systems meet UBC’s requirements for storing identifiable data, including password protection and encryption. Any audio files from interviews will be uploaded immediately to UBC OneDrive and deleted from the recording device. Paper notes, if taken, will be scanned and uploaded to OneDrive and then destroyed. Access to secure folders will be restricted to authorized members of the research team.
In line with current best practices in education research, electronic data will be preserved for future use in open science initiatives. Open science initiatives allow researchers from different universities to share their data upon completion of studies, in an effort to stimulate further use and exploration of existing data sets. Data is uploaded to an online forum in the form of a computer file, and these files are stripped of any information that could identify participants (e.g., names), to ensure confidentiality.
Participates should be aware that as this is a in-person event and work in groups is expected, participates may disclose with others information shared during the event. The research team cannot control what other participates do with the information discussed.
Data from this study may be combined with or inform future research conducted by members of the Rethinking the Right-of-Way (ReROW) Research Cluster, subject to appropriate ethics approval. Any future use will involve de-identified data only.
WHO CAN YOU CONTACT IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS/COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE STUDY? If you have any concerns or complaints about your rights as a research participant and/or your experiences while participating in this study, contact the Research Participant Complaint Line in the UBC Office of Research Ethics at 604-822-8598 or if long distance e-mail RSIL@ors.ubc.ca or call toll free 1-877-822-8598.
WHO CAN YOU CONTACT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STUDY? You can connect with the research team at info.rerow@ubc.ca with any questions or concerns.
CONSENT. You may withdraw from any part of the research at any time, but because completion of the surveys is required for participation in the Ideathon event, exiting the survey prior to submission will result in withdrawal from the Ideathon.
Ethics ID number H26-00235