20.500.12556/RUL-177774 Systems thinking in the role of fostering technological and engineering literacy This study examined whether the systems thinking approach integrating information and communication technology (ICT) and digital tools (hereafter referred to as the STICT approach) improves technological and engineering literacy (TEL) and related outcomes for pre-service preschool teachers. Although there is an expectation for preschool teachers to develop TEL, evidence-based models that systematically combine systems thinking with digital tools and ICT support remain scarce. Using a quasi-experimental design (n = 44; one-semester experiment), the experimental group explicitly integrated systems thinking and digital tools, while the comparison control group followed the traditional approach to teaching design, technology, and engineering (DTE) content; both groups focused on making products for preschoolers. The outcomes included multidimensional literacy, attitudes towards DTE, self-reported systems thinking, aspects of engagement, and focus group reflection. The analyses (ANCOVA/MANCOVA, regression/PLS, multi-group tests, thematic analysis) revealed notable results, including a higher post-test literacy for the experimental group and a lower perceived difficulty with technology. Both groups improved in the self-assessment of systems thinking, with no differences between them. The qualitative findings supported the educational value of the approach. In this pilot classroom experiment (n = 44), findings are consistent with an advantage of the STICT approach on the TEL composite and with lower perceived difficulty of technology, whereas self-assessed systems thinking improved similarly in both groups. Given the small sample and multiple outcomes, estimates carry considerable uncertainty and should be read as preliminary. We theorise that TEL gains arise primarily from systems thinking processes applied during design/evaluation, with ICT functioning as a cognitive-and-motivational scaffold that makes relations/feedback explicit and reduces perceived difficulty; self-assessed systems thinking improved in both groups. technological and engineering literacy pre-service preschool teachers systems thinking teaching engineering and technology content bodoči vzgojitelji vrtci sistemsko mišljenje tehnološka pismenost inženirska pismenost vsebine vzgoja in izobraževanje tehnika tehnologija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-01-07 08:34:11 2026-01-07 08:34:12 2026-01-08 04:27:47 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 71 str. iss. 1, art. 5 Vol. 14 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 373.2:62 2079-8954 10.3390/systems14010005 263593731 RAZ_Kurent_Brina_2025.pdf RAZ_Kurent_Brina_2025.pdf 1 EA61E419F941A73F698EB74948443FDF dc1cbc5a77085bcda4857a1a0f001df71289a27a51262325fbc682cb323f701f 9faea879-eb9c-11f0-bf92-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=225076 https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/14/1/5 1 4200dc9c-eb9b-11f0-bf92-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=225075 Pedagoška fakulteta 0 0 0