系统思维是一组用于提高识别理解系统、描述系统行为、设计修改系统以产生预期效果的技能，它对人类适应愈发复杂的现代社会有重要意义，能够帮助人们寻找全面、可持续的问题解决方案。为了使学生适应现代社会生活、有能力解决现代社会所面临的问题，系统思维被纳入基础教育的课程标准。当前系统思维测验工具不能满足常规教育环境中高中学段教学评价的需要，本研究致力于解决这一现实问题，开发了一套简洁易用的高中生系统思维测验工具。

本研究综述了有关的重要文献，并得到几点结论：第一，系统思维需要测查“结构”、“行为”、“功能”三个子技能。第二，系统思维测验的情境创设应当尽可能结构化、明确和信息完整，以保证内容效度。第三，本测验的情境为塑料垃圾分类处理，该系统以系统动力学模型的形式呈现，系统包含三个功能，并围绕三个功能展开，包含了三类系统要素及其关联，该系统展示了环保行为的必要性。第四，三种特定的选择题设问方式可以对应系统思维的三个子技能，测出学生的系统思维。

本研究采用测验法回答两个研究问题，“塑料垃圾分类处理”系统思维测验工具信度如何？“塑料垃圾分类处理”系统思维测验工具效度如何？研究分为四个步骤：访谈五名专家，构建塑料垃圾分类处理的系统动力学模型；基于该系统设计题干，命制试题；基于专家访谈、学生出声思考和预测验修订测验工具；对两所高中的六个班级进行测验，收集到278份有效问卷，基于经典测量理论进行数据分析。

本研究发现，第一，塑料垃圾分类处理系统模型中，石油天然气、塑料制品、塑料垃圾等要素的关系描述了塑料垃圾产生的物质流动过程，环境微塑料、长期放置于填埋场的塑料垃圾、待焚烧的塑料垃圾、尾气等要素的关系描述了塑料垃圾处理的物质流动过程，经济投入、奖惩措施、能源消耗等要素的关系描述了塑料垃圾分类处理中的调控过程。第二，测验工具由12道与塑料垃圾分类处理有关的选择题组成，其中反映高中生识别复杂系统结构、分析系统行为、调控系统功能技能的题目各4道，该测验能够反映高中生的系统思维，内部一致性信度好，结构效度达标，通过率、区分度都处在合理范围内，形式简明，测验用时短，参与研究的师生均表示能够接受该测验，该测验具有一定推广价值。第三，参测学生作答的正确率约为三分之二，仍有近半学生的系统思维未得到良好发展；参测学生在识别复杂系统结构的技能相对较弱，调控系统功能的技能居中，分析系统行为的能力较强。

本研究讨论和展望了四点问题：系统思维测验工具应当创设社会与自然因素交织的复杂情境，以真实地反映学生在现实生活中使用系统思维的场景；应当规范地开发系统模型，在教学中可以更高效地呈现信息、整合知识，在测验中可以节约测验和阅卷时间；但测验还可继续改进，如用于初中生群体、增加更高难度题目以匹配高中生群体的系统思维水平；本研究中系统思维行为子技能试题难度最低而结构子技能最高，不同性别的高中生的系统思维没有显著差异，同年级但不同年龄的高中生在系统思维上没有显著差异，这些结论与现有研究中的发现既有相同也有不同，这些变量之间的关系尚有待研究。

Systems thinking is a set of synergistic analytic skills used to improve the capability of identifying and understanding systems, predicting their behaviors, and devising modifications to them in order to produce desired effects. These skills work together as a system. It is of great significance for people to adapt to the increasingly complex modern society and can help people seek for comprehensive and sustainable problem-solving solutions. In order to enable students to adapt to modern social life and have the ability to solve the modern problems, systems thinking has been incorporated into the curriculum standards of basic education. The current systems thinking assessment tools cannot meet the needs of teaching evaluation for high school students in the conventional educational environment. This study is committed to solving this practical problem and has developed a simple and easy-to-use systems thinking assessment tool for high school students.

    This study reviews important literature and draws several conclusions. First, systems thinking requires assessing the three subskills of "structure", "behavior", and "function". Second, the context creation of systems thinking assessment tools should be as structured, clear, and informative as possible to ensure content validity. Third, the context of this assessment tool is the plastic waste management,which is a system presented in the form of a system dynamics model, which includes three functions and revolves around the three functions including three kinds of system elements and their correlations. The system dynamics model demonstrates the necessity of environmental protecting. Fourth, three specific multiple-choice question setting methods can correspond to the three subskills of systems thinking and assess students' systems thinking.

    This study uses the test method to answer two research questions. How to characterize a plastic waste management system model suitable for high school students? How to develop a reliable and effective plastic waste management system thinking test tool? The study is divided into four steps: interviewing five experts to construct a system dynamics model for plastic waste management; Design a question stem based on the model and create test questions; Revise assessment items based on expert interviews, student think-aload, and pilot test; Six classes from two high schools were tested and 278 valid questionnaires were collected for data analysis based on classical measurement theory.

    This study found that. Firstly, in the model of plastic waste management system, the relationship between factors (such as oil and gas, plastic products, and plastic waste) describes the material flow process plastic waste generation. The relationship between factors (such as environmental microplastics, plastic waste stored in landfills for a long time, plastic waste to be incinerated, and exhaust gas) describes the material flow process of plastic waste treatment. The relationship between factors (such as economic investment, reward and punishment, and energy consumption) describes the regulatory process in the classification and treatment of plastic waste. Secondly, the assessment tool consists of 12 multiple-choice questions related to plastic waste management, including 4 questions each reflecting high school students' skills in identifying complex system structures, analyzing system behaviors, and regulating system functions. The tool can reflect high school students' systems thinking, with good internal consistency reliability, structural validity standards, difficulties, and distinctions within a reasonable range, concise form, and short test time. The teachers and students who participated in the study expressed that they were able to accept the tool. The tool has certain promotional value. Thirdly, the pass rate of the high school students' answers in the tool is about 2/3, and nearly 1/2 of the students still have not developed their systems thinking well; The tested students have relatively weak skills in identifying complex system structures, intermediate skills in regulating system functions, and good abilities in analyzing system behavior.

    This study discusses four issues: First, the systems thinking assessment tools should create complex scenarios intertwined with social and natural factors to truly reflect the scenarios in which students use system thinking in real life. Second, system models should be developed in a standardized manner, which can more efficiently present information and integrate knowledge in teaching, and save testing and grading time in exams. Third, this tool can still be improved, such as adding higher difficulty questions to match the systems thinking ability of high school students, or using them for middle school students. Fourth, in this study, the difficulty of behavior subskill test is the lowest, while the structure subskill is the highest. There is no significant difference in system thinking among high school students of different genders nor ages. These findings are partly similar to existing researchs, and the relationship between these variables still needs to be studied.