[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Advancing Systems Thinking Education through Interactive Digital Narrative Design

## Details

**Authors** Breanne Pitt

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Trinity College Dublin (doctoral thesis)

**Kind of work** thesis

**Discipline** Education

**Secondary disciplines** Cognitive Science

**Reading level** technical

**Kind of engagement** scholarly

[Read it](https://www.tara.tcd.ie/items/5beb4cd9-3348-4cf6-9d65-6fa6e290e350)

## In authors' words

### Abstract

“In an era of rapid technological change and socio-political polarization, the ability to understand and navigate complex systems is a critical educational imperative. To address this need, this thesis explores how Interactive Digital Narratives (IDNs) can be designed to foster systems thinking and complexity literacy. Drawing on systems science, narrative theory, game studies, and the learning sciences, it examines the pedagogical affordances of IDNs for engaging users in dynamic, multi-perspective digital learning environments. The primary research question guiding this inquiry is: How can IDN design support learners in developing systems thinking for understanding complex systems? … Findings show that narrative-driven scaffolds, particularly those incorporating character-based More Knowledgeable Others (MKOs), perspective-shifting mechanics, and DSRP (Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, Perspectives) principles, significantly enhance learner engagement, perspective-taking, and conceptual depth.”

### What they set out to do (purpose)

A doctoral dissertation using design-based research and mixed methods to develop and test an interactive digital narrative for teaching complex systems. It combines the World Economic Forum’s Transformation Maps with DSRP and narrative design. The research includes an expert workshop, educator use cases, an 11-student pilot, artifact development, and a 66-student randomized A/B experiment comparing an IDN-plus-maps condition with maps alone.

### What they found (results)

Narrative-driven interactive digital narratives can foster systems thinking, particularly when they combine DSRP, stakeholder role-taking, perspective switching, and a More Knowledgeable Other. Pitt concludes that DSRP provides an effective framework for structuring and evaluating systems-thinking learning and that students showed conceptual development across D, S, R, and P. The strongest quantitative result is perspective-taking: Group A improved from 0.28 → 1.44 stakeholder perspectives versus 0.33 → 0.60 in Group B; improvement differed significantly, Welch’s t ≈ 2.64, p=.010. 61.1% of Group A versus 26.7% of Group B improved, χ²=6.50, p=.011.

## Commentary

### In short

Strongly supportive independent empirical application. DSRP is used as both a learning scaffold and an assessment framework. The thesis operationalizes all four DSRP patterns in learner prompts and analysis and concludes that DSRP was effective for structuring learning activities and assessing cognitive growth. The strongest controlled effect is for Perspectives, where the narrative/DSRP condition produced substantially greater perspective-taking.

### In more detail

The pilot explicitly tested whether DSRP could support and evaluate systems-thinking learning. Guided questions targeted Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives, and Pitt reports stronger D, S, R, and P responses among scenario users. The main experiment randomly assigned 66 high-school students aged 14–18 to Group A: IDN + Transformation Maps or Group B: Transformation Maps only. Both received identical pre/post testing; DSRP indicators were assessed through short answers, surveys, and behavioral logs. The first three DSRP dimensions were analyzed thematically and P quantitatively. For S, both groups showed meaningful growth with no strong between-group difference. For R, both groups improved, with different types of relational reasoning. P is the clearest treatment effect, with statistically significant gains favoring the IDN condition.

### Response

A Trinity College Dublin doctoral thesis using DSRP as both the learning scaffold and the assessment framework for an interactive digital narrative, operationalizing all four patterns in learner prompts and in the analysis, and concluding it was effective for structuring and evaluating the learning.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

Shows it makes a difference

**Added** 2026-08-27

**How to cite this** Breanne Pitt (2026). Advancing Systems Thinking Education through Interactive Digital Narrative Design. Trinity College Dublin (doctoral thesis).