20.500.12556/RUL-188611 Assessing technology and engineering learning outcomes of pre-service preschool teachers through epistemic networks of DSRP systems thinking As technology-enhanced learning environments increasingly promote active and situated engagement, assessment must move beyond isolated tests of knowledge and skills to capture learners’ performance in authentic contexts. In technology and engineering education, systems thinking is often embedded in product-based learning, yet technical product quality alone may not show how pre-service preschool teachers organise, connect, and justify systemsrelated ideas. The aim of this study was to examine systems-oriented reasoning as part of complex technology and engineering learning outcomes by combining the Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives (DSRP) framework with Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA). Students’ written reflections on the “Product as a System” were coded across the four DSRP dimensions and re-encoded as binary indicators of DSRP achievement levels for ENA. Using ENA, we identified differences in the prominence and cooccurrence of DSRP-related reasoning elements between students taught through the technology-enhanced systems-thinking approach (STICT) and those taught through a traditional approach. The findings revealed distinguishable DSRP epistemic network structures between the two groups, with the STICT group displaying a more heterogeneous structure and the traditional group showing a more concentrated network around system organisation, functional relationships, and multiple perspectives. The ENA indicators were more clearly associated with written report quality than with technical product quality. This study contributes to the assessment of systems-oriented reasoning. It suggests that integrating DSRP-based coding and ENA provides complementary evidence about systems-oriented reasoning beyond that captured by product quality alone, thereby contributing to a broader assessment of technology and engineering learning outcomes in authentic higher education assessment tasks. epistemic network analysis learning outcome assessment pre-service preschool teachers systems thinking technology and engineering education izobraževanje na področju tehnologije in inženirstva bodoči vzgojitelji analiza epistemoloških mrež ocenjevanje učnih izidov sistemsko razmišljanje višje in visokošolsko izobraževanje true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-09-24 12:50:05 2026-09-24 12:50:06 2026-09-26 03:36:14 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 20 str. art.1931621 Vol. 11 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 378 2504-284X 10.3389/feduc.2026.1931621 292288259 RAZ_Kurent_Brina_2026.pdf RAZ_Kurent_Brina_2026.pdf 1 F3203D9E9CFF12CA04863C4C726F9456 88bed7eb2f293e09116364797b7debf04ecd58c352347f29e753dee1fc1c6cc9 10ae4757-b806-11f1-8bc5-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=248895 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2026.1931621/full 1 a2f57f40-b805-11f1-8bc5-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=248893 Pedagoška fakulteta 0 0 0