Scaling Up Complex Thinking for Everyone A Conceptual and Methodological Framework

Nowadays, complex thinking remains a critical topic to be addressed by researchers and academics in higher education, since it is considered as a core competency to be applied in the design and development of solution proposals that face current problems in society. However, there is still a need to create and implement innovative teaching-learning systems and initiatives that support training and development of desirable competencies, both transversal and disciplinary, that promote complex thinking in students. In this context, Open Science has become a fundamental resource to accelerate research processes, enrich education, build new forms of analysis of a complex social reality and impact massively in different regions by providing affordable infrastructure. To connect, develop and implement this, the “Reasoning for Complexity” Interdisciplinary Research Group (R4C-IRG) will be presented in this paper. This research group provides a conceptual and methodological framework based on three key approaches (i) Open Science, (ii) Open Innovation, and (iii) the Education 4.0 framework. As a result, an Open Collaborative Network Model that encompasses knowledge generation and transfer initiatives, the development of collaborative projects, and the entrepreneurship and technology transfer are proposed, in order to achieve the objective of scaling up levels of complex thinking in higher education students.