iSTEM and Systems Thinking
Seeing Connections, Designing Better Solutions
Tackle hands-on integrated STEM challenges and map systems to design meaningful, interdisciplinary learning experiences for the classroom.
Workshop at a Glance
School teachers, coordinators and academic leaders
One day, 4.5 hours
Systems mapping, collaborative iSTEM challenge, prototyping, testing and classroom application
No prior Systems Thinking, engineering or STEM experience is required
Simple, accessible and low-cost classroom materials
A system map, tested iSTEM prototype and practical classroom-application plan
About the iSTEM and Systems Thinking Workshop
This workshop is part of Creya Learning's Maker in Teacher Workshop Series, a professional-development initiative that enables educators to experience learning as makers, designers and problem-solvers. The series combines practical skills, inquiry, experimentation and reflection to help teachers facilitate hands-on, experiential learning in their classrooms.
The iSTEM and Systems Thinking workshop connects two complementary approaches to real-world problem-solving. Systems Thinking helps teachers examine the larger context: its stakeholders, components, relationships, patterns and possible unintended consequences. Integrative STEM enables them to apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to investigate the problem and develop a practical response.
Through systems mapping and a collaborative design-and-build challenge, participants move from understanding why a problem occurs to creating, testing and improving a prototype that addresses it. Teachers experience how students can first understand the system and then make informed decisions about what to build.
Experiential Learning Guarantee
Every participant builds, tests, improves and leaves with a classroom-ready artefact or working prototype, backed by a structured reflection model.
Core Learning Pillars
The fundamental pedagogical and technical skills educators develop during this session:
Integrated STEM Learning
Connect Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics around one meaningful problem rather than teaching them as unrelated subjects.
Seeing the Whole System
Identify the people, components, conditions and processes influencing a situation.
Engineering Design
Define requirements, generate ideas, build a model, test its performance and improve the solution.
System-Aware Evaluation
Consider both whether the prototype works and how introducing it may affect the wider system.
Unintended Consequences
Anticipate how a solution intended to improve one part of a system could affect another.
The 4Cs in Action
Develop Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication through purposeful team challenges.
Analysing the System
Determine what lies within the system and what is outside its scope; examine how its parts influence one another and recognise patterns that recur over time; look beyond individual events to identify root causes and leverage points; and investigate the problem by asking questions, making predictions and gathering evidence.
Teacher as Designer and Facilitator
Guide students in examining complex situations and developing evidence-based solutions without prescribing the answer.
4.5-Hour Workshop Schedule
A carefully balanced cadence of inquiry, guided builds, team prototyping, and reflection:
Introduction to iSTEM and Systems Thinking
Understand iSTEM as an interdisciplinary problem-solving approach and Systems Thinking as a way of examining relationships and the wider context surrounding a problem.
Seeing the System Behind the Problem
Use a familiar school or community example to identify stakeholders, components, inputs, outputs, system boundaries and relationships. Distinguish isolated events from recurring patterns and underlying causes.
Collaborative Systems-Mapping Challenge
Create a visual map showing how the different parts of the selected system influence one another. Identify recurring patterns and possible leverage points where a manageable intervention could create improvement.
From System Insight to an iSTEM Challenge
Select one leverage point and frame a focused design challenge. Identify the intended user, need, requirements, constraints and relevant Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics connections.
iSTEM Challenge: Design and Build
Generate and compare possible solutions before constructing a functional model using accessible materials. Apply scientific understanding, mathematical reasoning and engineering-design decisions during the build.
Test the Prototype and Its Wider Effects
Test the solution against agreed criteria, record observations and identify technical problems. Consider how the solution may affect users and other parts of the system, including possible unintended consequences.
Classroom Application and Reflection
Select a curriculum topic or real-world context and outline how it could become a combined Systems Thinking and iSTEM learning experience. Identify one classroom experiment to implement.
Why Attend This Workshop?
Actionable outcomes and mindset shifts teachers take directly into their classrooms:
Connect understanding with action
Use Systems Thinking to understand a problem and iSTEM to develop a practical response.
Move beyond isolated STEM activities
Connect building and experimentation to a meaningful real-world context.
Help students recognise relationships
Develop their ability to understand how people, processes, resources and conditions influence one another.
Find better starting points for solutions
Identify patterns, contributing factors and leverage points before deciding what to build.
Experience integrated STEM
Apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to one shared challenge.
Use accessible materials
Facilitate meaningful investigation and prototyping without depending on specialised or expensive equipment.
Strengthen the 4Cs
Develop Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication through authentic problem-solving.
Evaluate solutions more completely
Consider whether a prototype works and whether it improves the wider situation.
Recognise unintended consequences
Help students understand that even well-intentioned solutions may produce unexpected effects elsewhere.
Create a classroom-ready plan
Leave with a practical framework for developing a combined Systems Thinking and iSTEM learning experience.
Grow through the Maker in Teacher Series
Build inquiry, facilitation and problem-solving capabilities that complement the Design Thinking, technology and fabrication workshops offered through the series.
Expected Impact
After the workshop, teachers will be able to help students examine a problem within its wider system, identify meaningful relationships and select a realistic point for intervention. They will also be able to design an integrated STEM challenge in which students investigate, build, test and improve a solution using evidence.
As part of the Maker in Teacher Workshop Series, this workshop strengthens teachers' ability to create classrooms in which students look beyond isolated answers, recognise connections and develop solutions that are technically effective, purposeful and responsible.
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